New Year ’s resolutions can be tough . Usually , I ’m gung - ho about them for the first twain month of the class , but by December , I can barely retrieve what I ’ve committed myself to , let alone know if I really accomplished what I coiffe out to do . I already have a lot of goals for our young farm — I’m certain that list will be ever - farm as long as we dwell this place — so instead of resolving to complete one , or even several , of them by the final stage of 2017 , I ’ve make up one’s mind to take a parole to be the theme of the year rather .
A word of honor of the yr is meant to inspire , not confine . It allow for the fluidness reflected in the nature around us . Instead of being a set destination that can be give away or not set with the direction our lives happen to take throughout the year , the Good Book is meant to pass the room we come on the goals we make and the obstacle we occur across .
The parole I ’ve settle on for 2017 iscultivate .
This word , which means “ to foster the ontogeny of , ” may seem like an obvious choice for first - meter farmers , but I trust Mr. B and I will be cultivating a lot more than our garden this yr . While that ’s definitely a biggie , there ’s a tidy sum more wrap up in this word that I hope will make us better farmers — and thus , better masses — in the year ahead .
Cultivate Home
The weird thing about move into a house where someone else once lived is that it does n’t immediately feel like yours . The energy of the previous owners tends to lollygag long after they ’ve gone . While the part left behind can often be terrific — in our type , the proprietor left us with a beautiful house they designed themselves and a great visual sense for the land — it can take some sentence for a place to really feel like yours .
One of the best pieces of advice I received before we move to the farm was to work on the area around our place first , and then move outwards from there . This idea , take over frompermaculture , imply that the setting up of a home base is indeed a physical process . If you think of cultivating a garden plot , first you have to plow and then plant , water , fertilize and do some weeding before you get your gamy violent tomatoes or hearty butternut tree squashes . The same goes for a home : Some cultivation must come before you get that warm , cozy feeling of having a place where you could truly let go and relax .
Cultivate Relationships
For urban transplants like us , the idea of motivate to the country , somewhat isolate from our existing social world , was an intimidating notion . While we were looking for peace from the frantic footstep of city life , we also knew we ’d pretermit being a short drive from our friends and support system . Thankfully , we ’ve been overcome by the kindness of ournew neighbour , who have made an effort to get to know us and introduce us to others in the expanse .
It can be easy for an introvert like me to get swallowed up in the purdah of farm life , but I know it ’s important to wield and grow these relationships , even if it means a drive through the woods and over the hill to connect with someone on a day when I ’m live and sweaty with a never - terminate to - do list . At this point in time , I do n’t know what kind of relationships we ’ll be cultivating — I do it we ’ve yet to meet many of the people who will influence our lives here — but I know that return the deed of unselfishness and benignity that we ’ve already been testify will be part of that process .
Cultivate Identity
Sincewe move to our farmnearly 6 calendar month ago — oh , how time flies!—I’ve really struggle with who I am now . Some the great unwashed have said to me , “ You ’re the same someone you ’ve always been . ” My result to that is , well , yes and no . surely my personality and ideals have n’t transfer , but so much else has , from the length of my commute and the way I prioritize my week to the people I hang out with and the chores I do .
A year ago , never would I have imagined that I would be cipher out how to clean the lamp chimney to a Sir Henry Joseph Wood cooking stove or clearing drip tape recording out of a garden over my Christmas holiday . Where before I dreamed of a flock of backyard chickens , I now have to consider if I want to go through the fuss of erecting afenceto keep out coyotes and fox when I have Fannie Merritt Farmer friends who grow organic bollock much more expeditiously than I ever could . Going out on a Friday Nox seems a lot less sympathetic than going home and check up on my bee , and a “ relaxing ” Saturday afternoon has take on a whole new meaning . Where I once took superbia in being a urban center girl who was up for any escapade , I often question if I have the grit to take on what is quite possibly the biggest adventure I ’ve ever endeavor .
I ’m by all odds not your average country young lady — and I ’m not sure I ever will be or will everwantto be — but moving here to this farm , I ’ve left behind a man of me . Perhaps it was a slice of me that needed shedding , but now this whole new level is exposed and now I must figure out what do with it .
Cultivate Creativity
at long last , one region of my spirit where I ’d care to see more cultivation is in creativity . I ’ve notice that since moving , much of the conversation Mr. B and I have is around what we are going todo . We’re going to mow , chop wood , net out the garden , clean the shed , fix the UTV . Do n’t get me wrong : I ’m so happy that we have the prospect to do in effect hard work and do it together , but among all the to - do ’s that can throng up on a farm , it ’s important to leave fourth dimension to produce , ponder , appreciate and suppose , as well . Part of why we move here in the first place was because of our love life for nature and the clarity it brings to our head and Black Maria .
