Sunday, 27 February 2011

So it begins....

So it may be this is never actually read by anybody...well, that is OK and if someone gets a chuckle out of some of this that is great!  I have often been asked about how/why we started our farm, what brought us to that decision and other various areas of puzzlement....seems that a farm and farming conjure up some romantic notion of Little House on the Prairie episodes, skipping through flowering fields or wicker basket in hand carefully picking the prize tomato/carrot/or what have you.....well, I am no Laura Ingalls Wilder and the skipping through meadows is usually me hysterically running through various plantings screaming "the truck is here" waving lading bills with a panicked look on my face and yelling like some homicidal maniac! 
The Little House on the Prairie image is seconded only by the other thought that farming has somehow transformed into us sitting on a shady porch sipping Mint Juleps or some such refined beverage, truth be told home made wine/beer are much more frequently the beverage of choice and if it has been a particularly trying day in the office the gin will make an appearance.  Did I mention I don't like working in the fields? Hmm...I will get to that topic......
Wine will be mentioned a lot in these posts, don't worry you'll get used to it. 
How did we come to this farming decision? I honestly don't know.  I can't recall an exact moment or conversation my husband and I had that would have prompted such a change in lifestyle.
I do recall about a two years before we ended up here, looking at properties in the area on one of our visits to the Okanagan to see Brads parents, sitting at the end of a chained driveway looking at overgrown fruit trees laden with tent caterpillars.  Some out buildings with slanted roofs, peeling paint and a lawn that was in need of more than a good mowing.  With a crying 8 month old in the backseat we headed back to our gated lake community in Calgary....did I mention Brad was a chef and I was a suburban housewife....this is where it gets interesting...well for me at least :P Funny enough my LuLu Lemon discovery only happened AFTER I became a farmer....OK maybe we aren't the stereotypical farmers...maybe...........