Fading Dreams: Leaving the Farm Behind

Small Scale Life Podcast

I stopped by Driftless Oaks Farm this week, and as I looked at the property, it hit me that it is a fast fading dream. I realized that I am turning the page and leaving the farm behind, and even though it sounds sad, this epiphany had to happen for me to move forward here at the Landing. In Episode 231, I discuss some observations, memories and epiphanies I had as I looked over the farmhouse, outbuildings and property.

It is no secret that moving to a farm/homestead was my dream. All you have to do is look back through the archive of Small Scale Life Podcast episodes, and you can see that I was working hard to move out of the city and move to Western Wisconsin. In fact, Julie and I looked at some properties in 2017 before moving from our rental house in St. Louis Park to North Minneapolis, Minnesota. The timing wasn't right until 20.

Eagle's Ridge

We purchased the Eagles Ridge property with a dream to build a house, garden and pole barn there. It was a 2 acre property on the Apple River just north of New Richmond, Wisconsin. We worked hard clearing buckthorn, prickly ash and honey suckle (all invasives) from the property and clearing the top of the ridge so we could see the river. We also cleared down by the water and put in a long switchback path down the 60-foot bluff from the top of the ridge to the river.

COVID, riots, and global shortages pushed the cost of building a home to astronomical heights, and we decided to pivot and go a different direction. Early one morning, Julie and I woke up early, and she convinced me to put Eagle's Ridge on a shelf and start to move on from that fading dream. It was not the right time to build a house.

Driftless Oaks Farm

Julie's brother in Texas was looking at homes and properties for us, and he found Driftless Oaks Farm. We took a look at the property and the price, and we fell in love with it. A major dream had been accomplished, and we couldn't wait to move in as soon as possible!

Not all that glitters is gold, however. We were overwhelmed by the amount of work there, and we also ran into a massive roadblock: the house. We bought the farm with the intention of hosting gatherings there with our family and friends. I even started planning homesteading gatherings at the farm where folks would come and listen to great homesteaders and gardeners talk about things that they were doing on their homesteads. Think Self-Reliance Festival in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin!

The house was small, and we found out that contractors were not keen on working with and adding on to a 1900-era house. The farmhouse was small, and it would have been difficult to add on to the house with the stone foundation in the front and cellar in the back. Contractors recommended bringing in a bulldozer and starting from scratch.

Did we have fading dreams once we did some diligence? Yes, absolutely. It happened fast on the farm, especially after major life events in 2022. After Danny passed away, we decided it was time to sell and move away from the little farm. We did not see how we could improve the farmhouse economically and make it work for us, so it was time to put it on the market and move forward.

This Week's Epiphany

When I stopped by the farm this week and observed it from the neighbor's hill, it suddenly occurred to me that the young man that purchased the property made some significant changes for the better. He had the creativity, audacity, tenacity and the network to make some things happen. I realized after looking at our little farm for a while that our farm life was one of many fading dreams, and it was time for me to turn the page and move on forever.

For links and show notes, head over to the Small Scale Life website at https:///smallscalelife.com.