Are you from another planet?

HiddenRiver's lambs prompted this thought. When I was growing up in suburban N. Vancouver, British Columbia, we had no livestock in our neighbourhood, and the closest thing we had to a farm was our little patch of cherry trees and blueberry bushes on our coveted double lot.

My mother used to tell me that when I was just a toddler, I would stand on the seat of the car (pre-seatbelt, pre-carseat) and bash on the window and SCREAM whenever I saw a cow in a pasture as we drove out to the Fraser Valley on the odd occasion. Seeing a horse would almost send me into hysteria. I remember later on as a kid that if I had the opportunity to visit a derelict, abandoned barn, I would stand and breath and fantasize about who used to live in it. The smell of cows or horses was like the finest perfume. I loved to cut the lawn because I would imagine livestock eating the clippings I was making...

We were an ultra-normal suburban family. My parents both worked, we had a dog, a cat, goldfish. Pretty city. Somehow I got the "farm gene" and it never left me. As I get closer to 50 than I am to 40, I am finally coming closer to living the dream I remembered as a toddler. I have a small farm with a few animals. I hope to get my resources together and put a garden in some year, but in the meantime I avail myself of the farmers' markets and I sell my excess eggs to people I work with.

I'm happy to say that tonight as I cleaned frozen horse turds out of a sweet-smelling stall, I realized I have found and am living my bliss. Completely and utterly. It's been a few years coming. My only wish is that I'd had a mentor as a kid, someone who I could have learned all that from so that I felt more confidence now as I try and learn these things that are new to me, but somehow don't feel new at all.

How many of you were farm kids dropped off the ship into a suburban lifestyle you felt a bit disconnected from? Are you living your bliss now?

I am a farm kid, born and raised, but I had dreams of ranching, you know, riding horses, driving cattle. I love the smell of fresh cut hay. Alas, my dream of that ended in University whren this farm girl unwittingly met farm boy. He was an Engineer, I have an Agriculture degree. Soon after we got city jobs boyfriend decided he needed to move home and farm. I went with him and boyfriend turned to hubby and I am now oficially a farm wife. Hubby has no interest in livestock and we don't have the infrastructure for it so my ranching dreams are over. I am not overly sad as I have plenty to keep me occupied, but I am a rancher at heart.

I was born and raised on a mixed farm. We always had a variety of livestock. Usually other "funny farm" animals also. We would be the local dropoff zone for wounded wildlife. WE would take care of them until an officer could come and pick them up. I found when I went to college in a small city it just about drove me nuts!! I was never so happy that I chose to take a short course of accounting tech/buisiness management. I then married my hubby and thought we would continue to have at least the cattle, which did not work out. I ended up selling my cows and horses so we could concentrate on the welding business. I never realized how much I missed the farming lifestyle until we finally bought our home 6 years ago, and were able to get back to hobby farming slowly!!

Farmchiq, what a blessing to hear someone say how lucky they feel, how good their life is. We all have lots to complain about, but it is a joy and a balm to my heart to hear you say how much you like your life. And for anyone who's interested, Farmchiq is not anywhere near 50, what a joke!

Dad moved us off the 4600 acres in ALberta when I was 10 and any farming he did after that was dabbling. Mind you, all the livestock on our little BC farm was imported from Italy and mooed with an Italian accent. They also liked a little red wine in their evening mash, but that's another story.

I didn't know then that the love or rural was lodged in my bones, but it is. What I wish now was that I had that piece of land we moved to when we first came to BC. We used to scoff at our school friends who thought our 160 acres was HUGE! We could see other neighbours across the valley, to us it felt very crowded! (used to seeing no one at all)Sure wish I had it now!

I didn't get enough of the farm life as a kid. Married a man who'd had too much of it and declared outright that there would be no cows, no pigs and no making hay! He farmed all his life at home and hated and resented it with a passion and washed his hands of it when he left home. We raise our own chickens now, but even that was a battle. He only built me a coop when I told him I had hired a contractor to bring a backhoe to dig the hole for the footings for the hen house. Hubby felt his wallet grow thinner and got out the hammer himself. Felt concrete footings were a little overkill. He used 8x8s instead.

I have seen your life, Farmchiq, and it is a good one, in my opinion. You have great friends too!

I am a new "farmer" too. I was born and raised in the city but always wanted to live in the country. My Grandparents had a farm when I was quite young but they were getting on in years already so no longer kept animals.

My ex-husband had no desire at all to live on an acreage even so that was that for many years.

After we divorced I met a guy who also had always wanted to farm. A couple years later we bought almost a quarter section. We bought it with his parents and that part of it has been a fight and major effort to get and keep animals:( Things with them are bad, but other than that I too am living my dream.

I love it and wouldn't move back to the city unless I really "had to".

My step-dad didn't think I'd make it a year because I hate the cold of winter and I'm sure there were other reasons too:) He and I now have chickens very much in common and me living on a farm let's him keep chickens (I take care of his chickens in the winter when they go south).

I could go on and on because Ilove it so much.

Thanks so much for starting this thread.

Ah Farmchiq, I know your bliss, I have seen your bliss, and you have that most beautiful farm to live your bliss within. You are out in nearly the middle of nowhere, yet can get to town in a mere few minutes. The hill that your beautiful farmhousey-type home lives upon, is bliss, to look out over the valley, as you do, your pooches , horses and chickens (did you still have a duck, can't remember)complete your bliss. Yes, bliss, what a most beautiful word that conjures up....well, I shall call it bliss.

This is going to be a long and lengthy post as I recount where I came from, how I now and have always lived, following my bliss. I feel blessed, for I live in my bliss too. I will try to make it short, as sometimes too long of things can be annoying to many, this would not complete their bliss .

I grew up in what I shall call eastern Burnaby, near the Lougheed Mall, which during my growing up days, was not in existence. When the Highway #1 was constructed, around the year of 1960, then all blinking craziness broke loose, with development and the Lougheed Mall replaced farmland.

We lived on a one acre piece of land, all the pieces of land near the mall area on the southern side were acreage. We had a horse stable not far from our home, the name was Waters Stable. Many a great time was spent hanging out there, my Sister and I shared a horse, so we had lots of people to ride with, and many times doubled bareback on that horse. Mostly bareback riding in those days, we had a saddle, but just something about riding on the warm back of a horse. We had so many horsey friends. We had bliss. We lived in bliss on our little acreage that was among other little acreages (these days, all that land is gone and filled with highrises now). My Mother had chickens, that was her bliss, she was a beautiful gardener and had flower gardens and a yard that would make the Queen of England stop and see. She was in her bliss. This love of gardening carried forth to her children. All but two of my siblings are avid farmers, be that horses, chickens, gardens, call it what you will.

I think my first initiation to a real love of the farming scene came from my Grandmother on my Mother's side. She lived in a place called White Rock, on a road called Brown Road. My Grandfather had built them their home from the timber on their land, they had probably I would venture 20 acres. Back in those days, the 50s, farmland was everywhere, and White Rock had their more than fair share of that. That Grandma home instilled some deep roots with me. I remember being there so many times as a child, with so many cousins always there too. My Grandmother was family. She had 12 children, and the family was close, so always many, many Brothers and Sisters would be there at the same time, with their children. A life of Aunties, Uncles and Cousins, I was in my bliss.

This woman was a farmer, I don't recall chickens, in hindsight, that seems now kind of weird, maybe it is just a repressed thought...smiling, but she had a garden, the garden that fed so many people. There was a well, a very deep and dark well, the well scared me.

I recall things about my Grandmother’s place and they are beautiful memories. I remember a little flower that grew on her driveway, and it always, as I was growing up and remembering her place, reminded me of sunshine. I think it was the wild form of camomile. I don’t know why, but I always related me of sunshiney days at her home. My Grandmother had a cow, her name was Daisy. I think she was a Jersey, although memory cannot quite recall this, I could ask my Sister, she is the keeper of memories, she would remember. That was where I had my first taste of real, raw and unpasteurized cow’s milk. To this day I yearn again to have that taste grace my pallet. Been nigh onto 30 years since I have had that bliss, when we had our own cow we shared with my Sister, Candy was her name, so many years ago. That was bliss.

Since time beginning in my life, I have been blessed with the love of the farm life. This was instilled by my forefathers, I know that. I have always lived in the country, in a country home, where I could have any choice of animal. There were some very intermittent years where I did live in an apartment, but that when was I was a single mother, still trying to find life. There was also a time when I lived in a suburb in a house. That was a short-lived time, only perhaps 2 years, and then back to country-style living. It is in my bones, it is in my very being. That is bliss.

We live on our Daughter’s property, in our little home on the back part of it. That is bliss. We farm this land with gardens, she has horses, dogs coming out her ears, and I have my chickens, with only one dog coming out my ear, smiling. I live my bliss here. We only see each other as much as we desire, and that desire is strong, so lots of “seeing” each other. They go away for many horsey events. We are the farm caretakers, we look after their dogs, home and horses and the property, we are in our bliss.

Has this gone off the topic that Farmchiq began, perhaps, but I had to speak of how I love to farm. Not sure what the word “farm” really means, but I think it has something to do with working the land, having critters that grace the land, is that farming? I don’t know, maybe yes, maybe no. I love that I can get up each day and not have a neighbour to look at. The neighbours are off to the sides of the valley, we are in the middle. The neighbour across the street, well, I can kind of see them, if I look for them, but they are set back off the road, and I think that I don’t see them much. Bliss.....such a wonderful word, we are living our bliss. I have a Husband that shares every aspect of my love to have critters, I am blessed in this way. He will perform any task I ask, that is my farm bliss, as there are so many things that he has built for me to make my farm bliss even more easy. He had designed, built, unbuilt, redesigned, built again, unbuilt again (ya I know, no such word, but I like to make them up), and then re-redesigned and rebuilt. I think he is in his bliss when he is designing and building for me. He loves to be in his bliss by building stuff.

Gads, is this right, have I strayed too far off the topic that Farmchiq made? I don’t know, again, saying that dubious thing, I don’t know, but thoughts must be sent when I think them, so a long story, about my own personal bliss. Beautiful days to us all, CynthiaM.

Uno don't you know how old I am?? I thought you did. Huh.

I can't even imagine what 4600 acres would feel like. It must feel like the whole planet is yours to run around on.

Cindi, what would we do without you to take us on those wonderful off-topic journeys of your mind. Never stop doing it. I love hearing it.

Chicken Crack, I have said too that you couldn't pay me to move back to my old life and location and I mean it. I love being where I am. Some days I love it less than others, but I love it every day.

farmchiq wrote:I can't even imagine what 4600 acres would feel like. It must feel like the whole planet is yours to run around on.

We managed 3800acres for 7 years. It was great. There was a creek that ran through the back. Would pack a lunch, saddle the horses and head to the creek for a picnic. If it was really hot, which if often was in Australia, we would stop at a big water tank and go for a swim on the way home. I loved it!

The last place we where on was 150,000acres. We were like our own little community with the people that worked there. I think it was something weird like 12km by 12km. It was BIG!

This place is only 600acres, but surrounded by crown land and no neighbours in site. Actually there is one about 3km away, but we can't seem them from our house.

I think you do get a bit spoilt on the big places. Lots of elbow room. I don't think I could ever live in town again.

I grew up on a farm and have always enjoyed chickens, ducks, cattle, goats, horses (only had a Shetland pony but always wished for a horse. Anyway, I went off to college and taught for a number of years, living and working first in a town, then later in a city. I enjoyed those years and didn't realize how much I missed the farm until I returned back to my parent's home a few years ago to care for them. I don't do much farming now, as I'm in the house mostly but I do find time to enjoy my flock of chickens and do a bit of gardening. I am soooo enjoying being back in a rural setting, just enjoying the peace and quiet, the good country air and of course, my little flock of chickens! I do feel truly blessed and am living the life I want to live! You can take the girl from the country, but can't take the country from the girl - and this farm girl has come full circle and has happily landed back on the farm.