A Year Of Changes – Hartley Farms

A little over a year has gone by since we finished The Cottage (That’s what we are calling the little house now). So much has changed. We always knew we wanted to live at the farm, but never really knew when that would happen. I’m a big believer of “everything happens for a reason”. I was busy getting turned down for construction loans. Even Farm Credit! The big banks just could not understand my vision of organic farming, making jams, event venue, agri-tourism, farm stays and a B&B.

[Insert confused banker behind his big desk here.: “Wait, what? You’re not making wine?” Me: “No, we are putting fruit in jars instead of bottles.” Big Banker: “I don’t get it.” ]

Now imagine this… times 20. I started to think that maybe farm life was NOT meant to be. But I WANTED IT. I had to try harder. We would travel up every two weeks, work for a few days, go home. Dan was working shift work, and even though he might have a stressful few days, working until 6am, we would get in the car and drive 3 hours to the farm. After a few hours of driving the tractor and doing work, Dan felt as if he had actually slept eight hours, instead of being up for 24. How was I going to get us to the farm? We need Dan’s job; he can’t just quit. Maybe he could transfer to a local job? And then… Dan was being treated for an injury from his job, and it turns out the injury
cannot be fixed, rendering him unable to work his same job. Medical retirement. Since it would be silly to pay two mortgages, and we really want to be at the farm, it was time to sell our house and make the move. We built the little house, The Cottage. Our kids are small, we can do tiny house living! And then, I finally got the email I was waiting for… “Congratulations, You’re Approved”. A small local banker saw my vision and took a chance on it. I love you, Cindy Smith with Bank of the Sierra! We were approved for a construction loan to build the Main House, which includes the first two rooms of the Bed and Jam&Toast (I’m not making breakfast. Homemade Jams and Breads, I can do). We
started construction in March, and are looking at a March 1 completion date.

Since our move, we needed to add some farm animals. The kids picked out two baby chicks each, in June: Ginger, Sausage, Bawky-Brownie, and Tootsie Roll. These ladies really are fun pets, and they started pooping breakfast (laying
eggs) in October. They are let out every morning, and spend their days picking up bugs in the garden. Every evening, they roost in the coop and we lock them in for the night. Pretty easy. After we had chickens down, we had an
opportunity to adopt a few goats: Precious, Lacie, and Coco. Precious and Coco are angora goats. they are used for their wool. We don’t even need to shear them; I am told that in spring time, brushing their coats will take the wool
right off. Lacie is a Nubian – a milk goat – but she has never been bred, and I’m not excited about the idea of milking twice a day, so she will stay a pet for now. Day 3 of having them, Precious was diagnosed with pneumonia. We had
to administer a shot, and give her aspirin for the pain. Caring for her made us feel like official farmers… a little bit.

Precious is the light gray one. She is very friendly, and wants to be pet like a dog. Coco is her sister, nad has the dark coat. She is a bit more skittish, but still sweet. Lacie is the white one.