Hello, Farm Life!

My name is Mark and, until recently, if you’d told me I’d be living on a farm, I would have said you were crazy. However, that’s exactly what ended up happening. For years, I was a city-dweller, commuting via public transportation to my office job in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Then one day I put all that behind me.

One Sunday, a week before Christmas, I relocated from Portland to Boulder’s Farm in Pedee, Oregon. Later that evening I moved into the newly constructed cabin in our orchard. At the time, my cabin didn’t have any insulation; just plastic sheets instead of glass covered the window openings. Fortunately, thanks to an extension cord connected to the nearby farmhouse I did have enough electricity to power lights, a small space heater, and an electric blanket. Surprisingly enough, I also had Internet service!

Even though I arrived on the farm in the dead of winter, from the moment I arrived it was a flurry of activity. My first morning, we built a pathway from the farmhouse to my cabin. Later, we poured massive amounts of concrete for our barn and even equal amounts of gravel for both our barn and horse track.

Up to this point, I’d always worked indoors. So, once I started working outdoors in a rural environment I began to experience firsthand the rhythm of the seasons. I also learned quickly I was surrounded by all kinds of wildlife, including deer, elk, coyotes, wild turkeys (which I find quite comical), and countless varieties of birds.

Next up was rehabilitating an orchard that had been abandoned for over 30 years. We thinned out trees, brush, unwanted plant species, and more than a few giant packrat nests.

We also ended up with a lot of firewood.

After being a city dweller for so many years, I had to get used to a few things.

One, if you need something from the store, you can’t just walk there or hop in your car for a five-minute drive.

Two, with the nearest gas station almost 20 miles away, you better have enough gas in your tank at all times. (Keep in mind that cell phone coverage around here is a bit spotty. If you end up running out of gas you might not be able to just call someone for assistance.)

Three, since we’re so out in the country and therefore kinda isolated, we depend on our neighbors in times of need and visa versa.

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