Our dream is coming true!

Our Dream is Coming True!

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. 
 Live the life you've imagined." 
 Henry David Thoreau

 

 

April 2015

 

This is not an easy blog to write because I will be sharing some very personal information that is embarrassing and very humbling.  My goal in writing this post is to hopefully encourage someone who may feel that reaching their goals are impossible because of their current situation or past failures. 

I would also like to share my story because it is a testimony of how awesome my God is and what He has done and is doing in our lives.  He is a God of restoration and healing.  No matter what storms you are going through, no matter how bad your situation may be,  If you commit your life and heart to Christ, he will always be for you and never fail you!

 



Gene and I have always dreamed of owning a beautiful piece of property in the country and establishing our dream farm. There were many things we were looking for this dream property to have.  First of all, it had to be in the country with minimal neighbors, good fertile soil, pasture areas, a creek, branch, constant water source,  hardwood forest full of old beautiful trees and native plant life, inhabited with wildlife, especially deer.  We were really hoping for an old farm house and barn to restore, but not a requirement. 

We purchased our first home in Central AL. in 1996 when our boys were little and made it our home for almost 18 years.  We had 3 acres which we gardened and raised chickens on a very small level.  We had very close neighbors, traffic, and no privacy. 

Due to the economic downfall in 2008 and many years of personal family crisis, we went from being financially secure to losing our home of almost 18 years and almost everything we had materially obtained. We found ourselves in our 40's having to completely start over. We held on to our faith in Jesus, remained thankful that we still had each other and our family and made our minds up this was not going to be our downfall, this was going to be our opportunity to obtain our dream and goals. 
The previous sentence makes it sound easy, it definitely was not easy!  It was extremely hard!

Genes parents graciously offered to let us live with them so we could get back on our feet and save money for our dream of obtaining our farm. 
We turned Gene's parents garage into somewhat of an apartment and in August 2013 we moved from our 1800 square foot home to less than a 400 square foot garage. 
We began our plan to get out of financial debt and save for our dream.
Although this was all very devastating and has not been easy, God has been so gracious to us.  Everything the enemy has intended for harm, God is turning it all around for our good and His glory!

We spent every weekend we had off work driving around looking for our perfect piece of property with our list of requirements, and praying for a miracle for God to open some kind of door and opportunity for us to have favor with someone who would work with us.
An impossible endeavor through human eyes, but believing through Christ all things are possible.
On April 5, 2014 Gene and I were driving down back roads in Autauga County, AL. We passed a beautiful piece of property with a real estate sign.  We almost didn't call because we figured it was out of our reach, but by faith we called.  The man who owned the property is in the military and moved to Colorado and decided to sale.  Gene set up a time to meet with the real estate agent.  He was actually the original owner of the land.  This piece of land and all the surrounding was his family owned property for decades.  We met with him and looked at the property.  It was perfect, having everything we wanted and more than we could imagine.  It was 18 acres of heaven.  The creek flowed across the whole back of the property and ran into the Alabama River. The creek was clear and clean with a pebble stone floor and beached areas. Natural springs flow off the mountain across the road and onto the property. About 9 acres of the land was cleared pasture that had not been farmed or chemically altered in over 30 years.  The other 9 acres was beautiful hardwoods with trails cleared and old enchanted forest looking trees covered in Spanish moss. It was a mecca of a large diversity of native plant and wildlife.  It even had a zip line on it and a tree stand set up in a great hunting spot.  Absolutely amazing!  It was located completely in the country surrounded by big land owners and farmers but yet only 25 minutes to the interstate.  The only thing missing was the house and barn.
Gene and I sat on the hillside that morning and held hands and prayed that God would bless us with this beautiful land, if it was his perfect will for our lives.  I knew in that moment that this was the place.  This would be our home, our farm!  This was the spot we had been dreaming of and looking for. Even though it was absolutely humanly impossible, I had complete faith God was going to work it all out and there would be no doubt it would be a GOD THING!
 Gene explained our whole financial situation to the real estate agent.  He told him we didn't have much to put down and we would like to know if the land owner would be willing to lease purchase the land for us.
We waited and waited!  On April 22, 2014 we got a call from the agent.  He said, "The land owner wouldn't consider our offer, he needed the money up front." The agent told Gene, "Don't be discouraged over time he may change his mind."
We were extremely disappointed and upset!  However, I knew in the depths of my spirit God was going to work it out in his timing.  We would have divine favor with the landowner and I knew this was going to be our farm!
We continued on our quest for looking for land, but nothing compared to the little piece of heaven we had found!
On July 10, 2014, Gene and I got a phone call from the agent!  When we saw his name come across the caller id, we knew it was the call we had been waiting on.  Gene answered, the agent said, "I've been trying to get you.  I lost your new phone number.  The land owner changed his mind and has an offer for you. He will finance it for you for 2 years and everything you pay monthly will go towards the loan.  After the 2 years you will have to get financing on your own and pay him off."
We sent back a counter offer and on July 16, we got a call back that he accepted our offer.
On September 4, 2014 we signed the owner financing lease purchase contract!
We went to our new property, took our lounge chairs sat in the creek and thanked God for his divine favor and miracle!

After signing our contract, on our way to our farm to celebrate, this rain cloud was pouring right on our property.  God gave me this scripture..............

"I will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it"  Malachi 3:10

 

The Creek

September 4, 2014 Gene and I celebrating the day we signed our lease purchase contract. 

 

 

We have 2 years to make our lease purchase payment towards the loan, save the bank required down payment, rebuild our credit, and get the land financed in our name.  All this appears to be impossible when we look at it realistically.  But how can I doubt, when I see all these things that has happened thus far that only GOD could do!

So now we stand firm on our FAITH, we TRUST & BELIEVE, COMMIT our plans to Jesus, and WORK hard to reach our Dream!

 

 

"For with God nothing shall be impossible."  Luke 1:37

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13

Petals from the Past Sustainable Garden Project

I am blessed to have such an incredibly wonderful job at Petals from the Past in Jemison, Alabama.
Petals is a retail nursery and farm, owned and operated by Jason & Shelly Powell.  We specialize in old fashioned perennials, antique roses, herbs, heirloom vegetables, and fruit trees and shrubs.  I have a great opportunity to work with extremely knowledgeable people, whom I learn so much from everyday. 
I approached Jason earlier this year with an idea to add an addition to our educational display gardens.  To create a sustainable garden area applying permaculture principles.  This would enable us to not only apply sustainable garden practices but also to teach our customers alternative ways to garden and experiment and learn ourselves!
Jason was excited about the idea and we began making plans! 
The very first principle in Permaculture is to observe and Interact, which means observing the land, figuring out what is naturally taking place, observing how nature is working around us and how we can work with nature instead of against it. 
Around mid September we began making trips down to the area we wanted to develop at different times throughout the day. We observed the sun, shade and wind exposures, the wildlife activity, slopes and water movement after heavy rains. We took soil samples.  We took note of what was growing and thriving in the area, good and invasive.
After observing and brainstorming for a few months, we narrowed down our ideas to a few sustainable elements to implement that we thought would be beneficial for our primary customer, the home gardener. 
The already present agricultural terraces and natural movement of water determined the design for our main swales and berms. (look for a future post explaining berms and swales)
The swales capture the rain water and allow it to slowly permeate into the soil and move into the berms.  This will help in keeping the soil and the roots of the plant material planted in the berms moist.   The soil that is removed to create the swale is used to build the berm.
The berms then created an opportunity for us to include perennial borders planted on the berms.
The perennial borders will serve many purposes for us as a retail nursery; this is an another permaculture principle, stacking functions.  They will give us an opportunity to showcase perennials we do not presently have in our display gardens.  We will be able to take cuttings from the perennials and propagate them to sale the plant material.  We will be able to use it as a cut flower source for our arrangements that we create for all of our events, seminars, and functions. The perennials will be attractants for pollinators and beneficial wildlife.  It will also present another beautiful style of gardening.  Perennial borders are longer than wide plantings of mixed perennials.  The well known designer Gertude Jeckyll implemented this style in many of her beautiful gardens.

As of December 8, 2013, we have constructed our berms and swales.  Several heavy rains has allowed us to observe some adjustments we need to make and we are working on them.  The first step in designing a sustainable garden is to get the water right.  We will then began adding amended soil from our retail nursery operation to the berms and work it into the  soil.  Then we will cover the entire berms with newspaper and cardboard we have been collecting for months.  The newspaper and cardboard will suppress the weeds and hold in moisture.  Our goal is to began planting the perennial border this winter.

During our observation  we noticed a natural depression in an area between two of our existing peach trees.  Rainwater naturally flowed off the stone fruit berm and collected in this natural depression.  We determined this was a great opportunity to create a rain garden.   To give the home gardener ideas of what they could do with these type areas they may have in their yards.  Usually the solution to these problem spots is to dig a drainage trench and divert the water to their neighbors yard.  Why not harvest this natural resource and use it to our advantage?  We will also showcase plants that will thrive in these wet areas.

As of December 8, 2013  We have dug out our rain garden bed.  After several heavy rains it is full of water and we are observing how long it takes for the water to permeate into the soil.  We will then incorporate our recipe for drainage, which will include a layer of gravel, about 50% sand and good composted soil.  Then we will choose plants that like wet conditions and plant our rain garden.
(A really great resource on rain gardens is at aces.edu, rain garden design for home owners)

We have been cleaning up our woods and had an area we were piling debris.  We decided this would be a great place to create a hugelculture bed.  Hugelculture is a German word.  It is a method used for gardening in much of central Europe.  Used a lot for planting potatoes mounds.
It is a method of piling up branches or brush in a mound, piling up grass clippings, sod, leaves, straw, etc. on top of the wood pile.  Adding good compost and soil and then planting on top of the mound.  Rotting wood holds a lot of moisture and becomes like a huge sponge that is sunk into the ground.  The roots of the plants absorb this moisture.  The rotting wood also creates a habitat for microorganisms and incredible soil life.
It is basically a concept of creating  a giant compost pile and planting on top of it.
  (look for a future post explaining hugelculture in more depth)

As of December 8, 2013  We decided to dig a deep trench and have a smaller mound rather than a large mounded hugelculture garden.  We have dug a 25' diameter circle about 4' deep.  We used the soil dug from the hole to create the perennial border berms.  We are filling the hole with logs, limbs, and fallen tree debris. We are then adding leaves we have been raking up all over the nursery.  We are adding rotten fruit, recycled soil amendments from our nursery retail operation.  Some of our employees are contributing and bringing their kitchen scraps and chicken manure. When we get the hole full we will add a thick layer of good composted soil and plant.  

All along the wood line we definitely wanted to incorporate an edible forest.  This would enable us to create a garden mimicking the forest.  It will include layers of plant materials that are edible & useful for humans and that will attract beneficial wildlife.  (look for a future post explaining an edible forest)

As of December 8, 2013  we have outlined our area fro the edible forest.  We slightly disk the soil and planted a cover crop of elbin rye.  We will chop and drop the cover crop in the spring and allow it to decompose and then we will plant a summer cover crop of sun hemp.  These cover crops will build the nitrogen in the soil.  We will chop and drop the sun hemp and began adding compost and amendments to the soil.  We plan to apply sheet mulching in part of this area. 
During this winter, spring, and summer, we are observing the water movement throughout the edible forest area which will help us in designing the swale system for this area.  We will also be observing the areas that get the most sun and shade exposure. We will also be choosing all our plant materials and designing the edible forest to be a complete healthy ecosystem which will be sustainable.
Our goal is to plant the edible forest Fall of 2014.

We would love for you to come and visit us and check out our sustainable garden project!

We will keep you updated as we progress!

Before (September 2013)

 

 

 

Swales and Berms being constructed

 

Rain Garden under construction

 

Hugelculture

 

Edible Forest

lightly disking and planting elbin rye

I am now a Certified Permaculture Designer!

I have just returned from a very exciting 13 days at Spiral Ridge Permaculture Farm in Summertown, Tennessee; where I have been living, breathing, sleeping, eating, and learning all things permaculture with like minded people. 
                     I Have learned so much and developed some beautiful friendships. 

 

          The best way I know to describe my experience is with lots of pictures.....................

My home for the last 13 days!  It was awesome going to sleep to the sound of crickets every night and waking up to the sun rising.

Drawing the Base plan

 

Composting toilet!  Humanure!
The sawdust keeps the odor down.




   

  Staking Multiple Function Systems!
 This one structure houses the toilet, the shower, the sauna (the
       wood burning stove heats the water for the shower)
   storage for straw bales, tool shed, and butchery area.
       

 
This was our outdoor classroom.  We spent a lot of time under this tent in classes, learning so much, eating amazing meals, drawing our designs and sharing with each other.  But the really cool thing is we had a lot of hands on learning in the field actually doing what we were learning.   
 What a Great way to Learn!

Learning about plants in the edible food forest

 

 

 

Learning to survey the land and create swales.

 

Working with my team on our design plan



 

 

 

 

 

My favorite thing to do!  Working in the Garden.......
Planting comfrey and kale.



The animals were not only adorable, but they were a very important part of the whole system on the farm.  The chickens, pigs and goats work together in a movable fence to prepare the land for planting without tilling the soil.  The chickens scratch and eat bugs and insects.  The pigs root. The goats eat the fodder.  They all fertilize the soil. 
The ducks and guineas and chickens eat unwanted bugs. 
The ducks and chickens supply eggs and meat.
The rabbit hutch is built above the worm composting bin.  The rabbits supply poo for the worms. The worms are incredible work horses and supply excellent composted soil and tea for the plants.
The rabbits provide meat.  The worms provide fishing bait.
Everyone doing their part on the farm. 
Even the adorable little kitten, named tree, will have an important job to do, catch mice!

 

  

                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

 

 

 

We all loaded up and went to do some community work at the local 'Farm' school.  We revived a neglected keyhole garden bed and restored a cob oven.

Cob is a natural building material, made of clay, sand, and straw. 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a nature hike one morning with Matt, a natural craftsman.   He is a very neat guy!  As we hiked through the forest to his work space, he taught us about different plant species throughout the forest, we learned so much and foraged on many wild edibles. 

 

 

 

 

 

Akebia or chocolate vine.  Taste like tapioca pudding!

Maypop, fruit from the beautiful Passion Flower Vine.

Hazelnuts


When we arrived at his place he shared with us how he creates many awesome things out of trees and bamboo.  He also shared blacksmith techniques with us.

 

 

 

Cliff Davis and his wife Jennifer are so knowledgeable.  They were wonderful instructors.  I enjoyed learning from them and getting to know them and their beautiful children.

Raina, Kerin, and Amaiya

 

 

 

Jessie Smith, did a fabulous job coordinating our group, preparing our meals, taking care of all of us and teaching!

 

 

Tyler, a previous Spiral Ridge PDC graduate and now intern also did an awesome job cooking for us, taking care of us and teaching some of our classes.

 

 From the very beginning of the course we were divided into teams.  We chose a section of the farm we wanted to design.  Each day we learned something new and applied it to creating our design.  My team chose zone 1 around the soon to come new home site. 

I had a great team and I think we did a pretty great job! 

 

 

We began everyday with camp coffee around the fire pit which faces the east rising sun.

And we ended everyday gathered around the fire pit with music and sharing stories.

 

 

 

I met some really incredible people and I know I have developed some new lifelong friendships.

We were a really cool group!  We named ourselves the spiralettes!

 

 



 This was an incredible experience!  I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to go and submerge myself into learning more about something I am so passionate about. 

And now I am looking forward to applying all things Permaculture to my life, our family, our homestead, my work at Petals, my design business, and the mission field!