"The time has come," the Walrus said...

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax,
Of cabbages and kings.
And why the sea is boiling hot,
And whether pigs have wings."

--Lewis Carrol, Through the Looking Glass

The time has finally come for us to get back on the "blogwagon" and share our experiences, misadventures, and reflections here at The Sweet Farm. When Luke first started this blog, he was flying solo--a journeyman-generalist off to see the world, and learn a few things in the process. Then I came on the scene, and together we recounted our adventures through Australia and New Zealand. During our time in Hawaii, the blog got a new name, "Pole Barn in Paradise," while we built a home for Luke's brother Paul, and his girlfriend Maxine, out of recycled and natural materials. With the house completed and Luke and I heading home to the East Coast, the blog fell into disuse and has been waiting patiently out there in cyberspace for our return. Though we should have done this months ago, we're finally back in the blog saddle and ready to ride!

This time last year, standing in wet boots on the porch of a run-down old farmhouse on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I suddenly realized we were moving to Maryland. It hit me, as my friend Andrea likes to say about such feelings, "like a donkey-kick to the chest." Until that moment, we had every intention of building our home and our dreams in Floyd County, Virginia (said farmhouse was a property we were considering for purchase). As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." While we toured properties, made offers, sketched home ideas, started a local business, and dreamed of our Floydian future, life was making its own plans...

After months of feeling stuck--living in someone else's home, negotiating land prices, waiting on forms and tests and inspections for our business--we decided to up and move to Maryland. Things started happening. Quickly. By the end of February, Luke's grandmother had moved from the farm and in with Luke's parents to recover from surgery. By April, we had pruned the long-neglected orchard and cleared the house of decades of clutter. By the end of May, we were milling and chiseling and planning for the August Barn Raising. That weekend in August brought friends and family from around the world to work and celebrate together. As the summer heat and humidity broke, our final reservations about our new home melted away. We knew without a shadow of a doubt that we were in the right place. We found our Wonderland.

After the incredible success of the Barn Raising and Celebratory Extravaganza, we turned our attention to the house. We've been working on demolition, insulation, heating/cooling, plumbing, and the like, but there's so much more to do. For the next 18 months or so, we'll be readying this home for the next phase of its life, and its new inhabitants. From there, we'll focus on the farm as a whole with the goal of creating a productive, welcoming and peaceful center of cooperative learning. We encourage friends and family to visit, to share their insights and talents, to help bring the spirit of The Sweet Farm to life, even before the infrastructure is finished. There's always fun to be had, work to be done, an extra chair at the table, and (though it may be on the floor) a warm place to lay your head. "Oh Oysters, come and walk with us;" and unlike the Walrus, we promise not to eat you!