Spring Newsletter 2012

I’d like to thank you for all your support and assistance in last year’s business.  We had several new challenges last year including extreme heat.  Although we lost many birds to that heat, God blessed us and we still managed to get the orders out.  We also had so many friends and customers come out to help us in various ways.  I think that’s my favorite part.  I love watching people come out, join together, and accomplish something so ancient, so visceral, all the while becoming a closer knit community.  That’s really what this is all about.

That said, we will not be fulfilling any orders this year.  I’m sorry to say that we are going to need to take a year off.  As many of you know, my family is in the process of moving.  We had anticipated being in a new house by now, but God had different plans.  As it stands right now we have sold our house with an anticipated closing date of early April.  We are temporarily living with my generous in-laws while we pack and look for another place.  To compound the complexities our new son was born on March 24th.  Also, our good friends, the Owen family, have been letting us use their farm.  That family is very busy.  The two youngest sons (who were vital in the day to day operation) are both working full-time jobs and going to school.  Keith, the patriarch of the farm, is also very busy with work and ministry.  So, as I look across the landscape of the 2012 chicken season it appears to me that God simply has a different plan for us. 

While I am disappointed, I am glad to simply sit back and watch.  You may recognize that this is a very poor business decision.  However, the main goal of Legacy Family Farm has never been “business”.  The main goal is to leave a legacy of Biblical community through agriculture.  We’ve been doing that.  If the Lord wills, we will do it again.  When that time comes, it is our sincere hope that you can be a part of it.  Thanks for your support and your understanding.  We’d love to keep in touch with you.  I’ll continue posting on our Facebook page from time to time.  Let us know about your experiences this year exploring other clean meat producing farms, patronizing farmer’s markets, and entering into community with other believers.  We’d love to hear about it!

Feel free to contact us.

(734) 931-0890

legacyfamilyfarm@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Legacy-Family-Farm/201798028707

In Search of Land

The winter time is a great time of reflection.  Once the poultry season begins in May, things get very busy.  Only this year, it may be different.  As I reflect on the coming year I'm at a loss for what may happen.  It's gray and distant from this vantage point.  I'm not scared though.  I've been here before.  Yet even though I may not be scared I must recognize that planning the rest of the year, at this point, is impossible. 

As you know, I have a whole passel of kids.  Right now we are a family of 7 wandering this wilderness together.  Come March we're looking at a becoming a family of 8 and right now we live in a 1,000 square foot house in the suburbs.

Yes, I double checked those numbers and there are no typos.

We're living in our starter home.  When we bought I didn't realize that we would be "starting" for the next 12 years.  But never one to move too fast, I've steadily paid down our mortgage.  My goal was to pay it down, collect some serious equity, and then put a big down payment on a bigger home.  Then the market crashed.  Like so many people I went under water for a while.  Fortunately I was in a position to get my head above water quickly.  That's primarily because I did have so much equity built up.  I also failed to mention that I never intended to raise livestock.  I always thought it would be very cool.  My grandpa raised livestock and I loved helping him, but it always seemed like a pipe dream to me; something to long for and never achieve.  That was my thinking until about 3 years ago.  It was then that God began to show me a life where our family would raise livestock.

My friend, of course, let me use his land and we began raising poultry.  It's been a great experience, but it's become very difficult to raise livestock at another farm.  Logistically it's challenging.  Each year I impose upon my friend and his family to help in the day to day care of the birds.  They never complain, and I think to some degree they even like it, but it can be a burden to care for several hundred critters at the time. 

And so I find myself searching for a house with a little bit of land in the country.

The vision I have is to set up a homestead with my family.  I'd like to have a home a bit bigger than the one we have now and seated on some acreage.  I'd like to grow a bigger garden than what we can today and plan to supply our table with as much of our homegrown fruits and vegetable as I can.  I'd like to begin raising chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and sheep.  Eventually I'd like to add cattle.  I'd like to do all of this with the hope of giving to my children experience in hard work, sustainable living, and running a business.  And then, I'd want to expand!

No, I'm talking about franchising or becoming a land baron.  Rather I have a vision to work with other local people in the pursuit of creating an agrarian network.  For instance, you might be shopping at your local farmers market.  You see a booth where they are selling seeds they have harvested from heirloom vegetables, and you ask about chicken.  The farmer let's you know that he can get chicken for you.  The next week at the market you see him again and he indeed has fresh pastured chicken for you.  What you don't know is that he doesn't raise chicken.  He got it from me.  But he's part of the "network".  He's your reliable farmer.  The people in the "network" trade and barter for fresh homemade/homegrown goods.  In this way no one person has to bear the burden of having lots of land and working in every facet of the farm.  Some may want to and I applaud them.  Many of us cannot.  But together we can create an agrarian community of producers and buyers alike, dedicated to preserving the past, feeding the present, and creating a sustainable future.  In short, live a simple life.

Purpose

I know; with all the blogs out in the blog-o-sphere why create yet another one? I suppose there are many reasons for me to create a blog. I'm not interested in keeping you up to date on the latest events in my relatively ordinary life. I'm not terribly good at being clever. Instead, I want to encourage you in a way of life that appeals to me, namely, the simple life.

You, my dear reader, are likely incredulous at this point. "Is there such a thing as a simple life? Is that impossible in this era of time?" Well, the truth is that my friends and family have, by now, calmed down from their laughing fit. No, I'm not sure I'd call my life simple; but that's the point. I'd like to. It's a goal I have.

So what does it mean to live a simple life? Well, to be clear, I'm not talking about a lack of activity or a lack of technology. In my mind it has something to do with relationships. As we've "evolved" or "progressed" in our thinking, we invented new ways to ensure that we don't have to interact with anyone. You don't have to look any further than the grocery store. As I place my items on the belt, I have a screen that explains to me what my bill is, minus the coupons. I scan my credit card and sign the pad in front of me. The teller hands me the receipt and says "Have a nice day." Done! At no point in this transaction have I made eye contact with her (whew). She's given me her script, but we've not actually communicated.

I am seeking something different, something more visceral. I'm seeking humanity. Does it still exist? Let's find out...