These are words I have learned to dread. He says that or some variation and I know there will be a change of my plans or a change in our lives.
I have a good view of Ron’s internet searching from where I sit on the couch in our family room. Drives him nuts when I ask him what he is looking at now, but that is usually my first indication of an upcoming change. For years he has casually talked about wanting to buy a certain piece of land near Lake Delta NY. And insisting that all he needed was a cabin in the woods. I like sidewalks and easy access to people and places so his wacky plans were not going to include me.
In 2014 his searches started focusing on properties in our area and hydro-power. I watched for months as he bounced from site to site, muttering and sending emails. So much fun to watch his two finger typing skills at work. In the fall he finally broke it to me that he was actually looking to buy some land and start a small farm. He was actually pleased that I was not surprised, that I had been paying attention. He wanted to met with realtors and start looking at land. He had a list of specific needs and assured me that it might take up to 2 years for him to find the right place. After all he wasn’t retiring until 2018 so there was no rush. I lost count of the number of places he looked at. Some were great, others not so much but none were the right one. He couldn’t get the realtors to understand what he wanted so he kept looking on his own. FB and Craigslist and signs along the road were all checked out. He had brother Don looking too.
Can you imagine my horror when he told me in October that he had found his farm? I was so not ready for this. He found it on Craigslist and it was just 15 minutes away from us in Augusta NY. Right off route 26. Being so close has turned out to be the best news.
On December 11, 2014 Ron and I became the proud (Ron) and nervous (me) owners of a 10 acre property. Which he plans to call “The Tiny House Farm”. Did I mention that he is also obsessed with the whole tiny house movement? Again, not something I am interested in. Are you sensing a trend here?
It was too late for Ron to get any real work done but we did have some great fun hauling out the trash.

Too bad that trunk was falling apart. Don wanted us to keep the hot tub and find a use for it. No way. Though I managed to salvage one cool bottle and we still use the table.

It was hard and please don’t tell my fellow recyclers, but all this crap got tossed into big black garbage bags. Even with gloves I didn’t want to touch any of it.

We didn’t have the trailer yet and Ron didn’t want to leave the trash on side of road by farm.  He was worried that others might decide to dump more.  So we hauled it all back to our house.  That was fun. You would not believe how much we got into the Transit. We got a good chunk of it out, but still have more to pull out of the bushes.  Should take a year or so.  Craigslist purchases, they do tend to have a few downsides.

So here we are – just over six months in and we have the first two batches of mushrooms set up and the 3 acre field has been plowed and rock picked.  Oats are growing there now, amid all the weeds.  That will be plowed under and then buckwheat planted.  All this to get field ready to grow garlic in a few years.  And whatever else Ron decides to grow. Can you spot the oats below?

Visitors are welcome, even encouraged.  Just bring your knee high rubber boots (for creek crossing) , bug spray, long sleeve shirt, long pants and expectation of some work to be done. Give Ron a call and he will give you the grand tour.  Be warned, it will take a while.  The man does love to talk.

That is what Ron keeps telling me. Working with him and Jo to get the Farm up and running has been a great exercise program. I have never been a fan of exercise for the sake of exercise. Would so much rather haul wood for an hour than do a workout routine. You get your heart rate up, burn calories and have a major sense of accomplishment as you got something done too. Get the rest of the family involved and you are having fun too. Quality family time at its best.
Since Ron bought his 10 acres last December, we have hauled trash out, cut down brush, picked up rocks, hauled more trash, loaded his mushroom bolts, unloaded them at home, drilled them out, filled them and then waxed the holes shut and stacked them again. Loaded them on the trailer, unloaded at the farm and hauled them across the stream to their final resting place. 200 bolts in all. Thank goodness we had help. Brothers John and Don, nephew Jesse and my friends Josi and Ryan. They saved our butts and our backs.

Jo and Don filling the holes with mushroom spawn.  This being our first try at this, we set up a makeshift operation in our garage. Next year we will have a better system set up.  Ron is pondering it as I type.

Josi and Ryan came with their 4 wheeler to move the 200 bolts from our house to the Farm. Many hands made quick work of this.

All of this may be cheaper than paying for a gym membership, but I don’t remember coming home from walking on a treadmill with bruises. Or a tick. Yuck. But I have to admit, I have lost a few pounds. That is a good thing.