How we started a Farm from scratch

If you know my husband personally, you would be surprised that he was raised in the city with no background in agriculture whatsoever. I, on the other hand, grew up on a small row crop and beef cattle farm.  Fast forward a few years, and agriculture (and the good Lord) is what brought us together and the direction we chose to build our future together. Here’s our story of how we started a farm from scratch.

If you aren’t involved in any kind of agriculture, you may not understand the love that farmers have for their land and animals. It truly is a way of life to us.  However, it’s very rare in today’s dynamic to just “start” farming from nothing. There are very few first generation farmers.  It’s just too much, the odds are “not ever in your favor” 😉. The start up costs are just too much, the risk too great, and the future too unsure. You pretty much have to inherit a farm or go into partnership with family. That wasn’t an option for us. I have a family farm that is still in production, but it’s small and just not sustainable for more than one family.

So, we both got jobs working in the ag. industry, and when the opportunity came for us to actually buy a farm and enter the farming world via livestock production (swine facilities), we were thrilled. Large livestock producers have gotten a bad wrap in recent years, (and hopefully I can shed some light on that at a later time), but it was a great asset to our family and I will always be grateful for the chance for us to “start farming from scratch”. It opened up a multitude of opportunities for us and we wouldn’t be where we are today without that time we spent in large production agriculture. 

Starting a farm from scratch was also the beginning of our self-sufficiency journey!

A few years into our farm journey, we found ourselves in a REALLY tough situation in life. Just like so any families, life brings ups and downs.  The reasons are a long complicated story of how we got there, (and that’s for another day also), but we genuinely felt like it was through no fault of our own.  We had always tried to live modestly and do the right thing.  I mean we hadn’t had a vacation since our honeymoon almost 15 years ago!  I found myself asking “Why me, God? Why us? Why now?”  We talked many late nights about how we felt like we were literally having to scratch and claw our way out of this situation. Through that time, stress was high and money was tight, and I had to start getting creative to make ends meet. Part of that was cooking from scratch (I literally made EVERYTHING), making household products from herbs and products we picked or produced on our farm, and learning about medicinal plants for my family’s health.  I know that’s all the rage now, but for me at that point in life, it was just a necessity to get by.

I had small children (many of whom I was homeschooling) a home to take care of, and many responsibilities at church and other community organizations.  I looked at this trying time as a big hassle, inconvenience, and honestly just plain unfair.  I found my Granny’s biscuit recipe one day and decided to try it.  I mean, what’s better than biscuits anyways, right? I had many failed attempts, and we would have to eat flat biscuit, crumbly biscuits, small biscuits, hard biscuits…you get the idea. I remembered telling my husband that by the end of the winter I was going to have the recipe perfected. And you know what? I did! 

Joys found in the simple life.

Gradually, over the years, our situation has gotten better, we made it through that winter and several more. God showed us his faithfulness over and over, but He also showed us the value of making the best life out of what you have been given. We did a lot of trusting and praying, a lot of leaning on each other, and keeping things simple. Today, we have added a few more kids, and we are still on a budget, but I still cook most everything from scratch, and still enjoy the simple things. I got in the habit that winter and before I knew it, I not only appreciated this way of life, but I actually cherished it. We learned the value of simple self- sufficient living, but also the great joy it brought our family.

I still make Granny’s biscuits, and when I do, I can’t help but smile, remembering God’s faithfulness to us…in good times and bad.

Granny’s “From Scratch” Biscuits:

1 stick of butter (or if you really want them to be good you can substitute lard 😊)

2 cups of all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

2 tsp of sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

Mix together, roll out the thickness you would like, and cut. Bake at 350 until golden brown.