The Farm and the Dream

I have a dream. Oh, nothing so big as Martin Luther Jr.'s Dream, but something I want to do nonetheless. I want to become a garden farmer. I live out in the middle of nowhere Kansas, and I really love it here. This land has been in the family since my great Grandpa bought it, my dad were born not half a mile from here.

My Great great Grandpa Lewis immigrated from France to Kansas and bought land from the railroad a couple of sections over. He wanted to plant a vineyard on the banks of Gar Creek. So you might say this land is in my blood. I love this land. When my Grandpa died none of his kids were interested in taking over the farm so they auctioned off all but about 45 acres of the land. That land was then divided between the four children. My cousin lives down the road on the farmstead that my dad grew up on. My dad was a teacher at the time, and not very interested in farming per se, but my sister married Daniel, the son of a farmer, who loves living in the country.

 Daniel is a business owner, and isn't really interested in being a farmer on the same scale as his dad, but I think it must be in his blood. He and my sister put a house on this land  some nine years ago, and my mom and dad bought a trailer house and brought it here as well. They have put a lot of work into husbanding the land, from planting wind belts and buffalo grass to building chicken houses, sheds, and fences. And, of course, planting gardens. The garden grows and shrinks from year to year, depending on inspiration and, how busy everybody is, but most years there is one.

 I have been on and off the farm during most of these years, going to school, mostly. When I am here for any extended period, during planting season, I start a garden, or work in whoever has one going.

 My mom has a flower garden that I have contributed many hours weeding to. Some years ago I dug a pond for her. Two years ago I planted bulbs around it. It was a great project. Now we get to clean it every so often.

I have always wanted to live out here, and this last fall I got my desire. About two years ago my Brother-in-Law decided to build an apartment in his shed. Last year my younger sister and her new husband, Jonathan, came to visit from China, where the live. Jonathan took a great deal of pleasure helping Dan finish the apartment where they lived the next five or six months, before returning to China. So this fall when I needed a place to live Dan offered to rent me the apartment. Getting the chance to live here on the Gar Creek Farmlet has inspired me begin the journey towards Garden Farming and a Community Supported Agriculture(CSA) business. I really love the idea of local produce, and I want to be a part of the producers. We do not yet have a CSA in our community and I would like to remedy that. I know that there is a great deal of work ahead of me, so I have decided to start small, and work my way up.

So in the spirit of starting small I have begun The Garden Project. I even have one (potentially paying)person on subscription. There are, of course, others who will not be paying. (i.e. my parents, and my siblings and their families)