Sharing Hope and Fresh Food

October 2024 is the last time I was able to work at my 9-5 job. I begged God to move, and that He did. It was not a move I was expecting, nor had I planned for.

Shift focus. God had a plan. And what happened in January is my mother got sick and is now on hospice, and I am her full-time caregiver in our home. What that means is my mom and this farm are my job. So my deviated life plan became an open door for the care of my mom.

The challenge with that is this job does not pay, and my brain is busy with all of the things that I can successfully do while caring for momma. So... I farm. We provide all our eggs to non-profit agencies. Nope, we don't eat them. We raise all our own chickens from eggs, hatch them each spring, talk to them, collect their eggs, and keep them healthy. The IRS hates this as we do not make money and spend a fortune. They consider this a 'hobby'. I can assure you it is no kind of hobby. We raise ducks and chickens and provide this non-processed food to those less fortunate, including the homeless, families in financial need, and nursing home residents who have nobody else to nurture their spirit. The farm is a community food source. It is also therapy for me and momma.

We have recently tilled for an additional 1 acre garden and are adding six more acres! I am working hard at preparing for the fall planting season. In the south we can grow kale, sunflowers and corn up to the first frost... Who knew? Seems my black thumb has turned green with all of the humidity down here.

We have also added bees! Honey is food too, right? RIGHT! With bees come additional costs, but their benefit outweighs their expense. One, I get to work my brain processor that is not functioning correctly and two, these bees pollinate our garden! To help maintain the bees for fall, we are adding a zinnia garden in the front pasture. This will help with their food costs through the fall. We are adding a Russian queen to overwinter us as they are more frugal which means the hive require less food from us. The bees use above twenty five pounds of sugar a month! Can you believe? I have a mentor that works with me to care for the bees as it takes me a bit longer than most to catch on due to PASC. But it is a good exercise for my brain and provides a service to the community. The bees travel up to three miles to find food. This means they are pollinating other food sources around us. They are really miraculous little fuzzy freeloaders.

Due to our super successful vegetable garden this year, and we delivered fresh fruits and vegetables to the community free of charge. Due to the overabundance of zucchini I was able to bake breads with that. There are so many avenues to take that me, as a city person, never knew existed.

I did not know what was happening when I prayed. But every time I turned around I was being directed back to the land. The tax office talks about it, everyone who visits talks about it, and it is just sitting here. Use it.

How? That too is up to God. He has blessed us with the time, space and resources. Thankfully my husband has a farm brain. Not my expertise, but I am learning. This is also working the processor. I am sure all of the people that assist me are exhausted by my repeated questions, but that is okay. They are so gracious to continue to answer and help out. There is something special about the southeast. People help people.

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