... So, Now What? (Introducing a New Series!)

I did not grow up near any of these things.

Pretty much the opposite.

I spent my formative years playing in a backyard that jutted up to four others, in a subdivision with neighbors on all sides, riding bikes while watching for cars and walking down the street to the grocery store with my mom.

Wide open spaces was something for vacations and field trips to "the farm" (which was really just a big petting zoo with cute goats).

Then, in high school, something catastrophic happened.

My family moved to rural Iowa.

And I fell in love.

First with those wide open spaces, with watching the thunderheads roll in from miles away, with the quiet and the peace and the friendly way that the old men wave at each passing vehicle.

And then I fell in love with the son of a cattle farmer who spent his childhood on tractors and filling grain bins. He knows what a commodity shed is. Knows the difference between a Charolais and Hereford.





I'm still learning.

I ask lots of dumb questions, have my expectations and preconceived notions shattered on a regular basis. I'm still such a newbie, even though it's almost been 15 years.

A few months back, we bought a farm.

I love it. I love the barn swallows and the quiet and the grain bins out the living room window. The way the sun casts long shadows in the early evening.

But honestly?

I have no idea what I'm doing. At all.

(Thank God, first of all, for my competent husband.)




I like learning.

I've got that going for me.

So, I decided to ask some questions. There are some of you out there on the wide interwebs who do this thing- this farming thing. This agricultural thing. This animal husbandry thing. What an amazing resource we have at our fingertips!

(I'm also asking questions of my real-life, face-to-face neighbors, too- also an incredible resource and knowledge base!)

I interviewed several bloggers who write about agriculture, and some who don't write about it but live the lifestyle. I'll be putting up these interviews every now and again- so you can read and learn right along with me, as I figure out the "now what?" of our little rural life.



This life- it's nothing I expected- no.

It's better. 

Join me as I keep learning, keep growing, and lean into the unknown.

Have you ever been surprised by twists and turns in your life? How did you find support and encouragement?


( If you'd like to be interviewed, let me know! )