Looking Ahead...

Next Steps for Grounding Roots Farm

A year ago I had no idea that over-the-counter Pepto Bismal could be used to help treat a calf with scours (that’s diarrhea in layman’s terms and a potentially deadly condition in cattle). I had no clue, after an entire previous year of bee keeping, that I had a developing allergy to their sting which would cause my arm to swell like Popeye after downing a can of spinach. I certainly had no idea that chickens are the greatest escape artists on the planet, rivaling any tale I’ve ever heard about goats or prisoners of Alcatraz. Most of all though, I realize I had zero insight that I would find all of the life lessons, learning experiences, and challenges of this past year of farming so much more rewarding than any professional job I’ve previously held. Also, just how close our experiences in this effort would bring our little farm family together. What a blessing from God.

“What do you want to be when you grow up”? Now in my 40's those words echo in my head and cast such a recognizable feeling as I sit with a luke-warm, half-empty coffee cup in hand, contemplating where our precious little farm boldly strides next into this new year. As a maturing kid, still fresh and full of youthful vigor, the possibilities for my future seemed endless. In a sense, our little slice of heaven here at Grounding Roots Farm is in that same youthful state. As I gaze out the window, smudged endlessly by the tiny fingers that inhabit this century old home I see a blank canvas and find myself wondering what picture will emerge as the seasons progress. I bet, like most, you’re evaluating your circumstances and contemplating the year ahead as well.

The story behind our journey and the founding of Grounding Roots Farm is a lengthy one I’ll likely share as this year progresses. Sufficed to say, I couldn’t imagine in my wildest that this opportunity would have found us in the way it did. There’s something to be said for God’s providence and we’ve experienced it in spades. It’s my greatest wish that this year will bring us even more experience, learning, growth, triumphs, and best of all, more opportunity to bless others. I know it will likely be full of challenges and frustrations (which is the nature of life and farming), but that’s also the joy in it. When you see your hard work and efforts bear something good and wonderful, those troubles are quickly forgotten, and it instantly seems all worthwhile.

So where does Grounding Roots Farm go from here? It’s our second year of real homesteading and farming. We have pregnant sheep just weeks away from lambing. We’ve got our first batch of pigs, fattening daily and just a month or two away from butchering. We have a Jersey dairy calf we rescued, affectionately named Mabel, that we’re weaning from bottle with dreams of the delicious milk she might give us when she's old enough to breed. We have a market garden to expand, an apiary to grow, chickens to convince to stay out of areas they’re not wanted, a greenhouse to build, a website to finalize, marketing to develop, and houseful of children ages 3 to 15 to homeschool and raise with life skills, serving hearts, and an enduring love for God. Phewwwww! Taken in whole it almost seems overwhelming, but I have every faith we’re up for the challenge.

So as this new year delivered as a gift to our doorstep, slowly unwraps, I’ll look forward to sharing with you dear reader, all the good, bad, and in-between. My hope is that it might inspire, encourage, and guide you in your journey, at whatever stage you’re in. This is, and I think always will be, a learning process for us and we’re happy to share all our successes and failures so that you can be as entertained by them as we are, and maybe even learn a little something yourself along the way (Like never turn your back on a dairy calf immediately after she’s downed a bottle of warm milk replacer -because she just might assume in her little bovine mind that your rear end might somehow be comprised of a milk delivery system and give you the nudge of a lifetime).

Regardless of where this New Year takes us, from all of us here at Grounding Roots Farm, we wish you and yours nothing but happiness, love, laughter, and success in this New Year!

Isaiah 61:11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.