A Journy Of A Thousand Miles Must Begin With A Single Step

A thousand miles it seems as if I've already walked yet I know my journey is just beginning.

photo by Southern Dream Photography

Raised a city kid, I spent many days on relatives farms, leaving a kids heart yearning for wide open spaces. It wasn't that I longed for a life of chores or tending a garden, it was the freedom of life lived with a purpose.

My story isn't unique and many people have lived the holistic, green life I have only dreamed about. For years I've been overwhelmed by cost of purchasing organic food and products, doing the responsible things like recycling and always remembering to bring your cloth bags to the grocery store to reduce the use of plastic bags. Time and time again I seemed to fail. It even got to the point of not throwing anything out and not knowing where to go to recycle it, which totally ended up being bad since I had amassed large amounts of items that ended up clogging up my life.

Without the poor economy I might not have ever been forced to change. But, it has become not only an awakening but a challenge to become creative to see where we can save money. It has been a challenge to roll with the punches because change is not always easy yet we are searching to find a new normal and this is how we've come to a point of learning how to live a sustainable life.

Mike Rowe in someway has to be blamed since after watching the episode where he milked goats for a soap maker, I fell in love with the idea of goat farming. My daughter at that time had been talking about making soap and I thought how cool would that be to have your own fresh supply. Years later we are finally doing the research of goat breeds and care. This coming weekend we are attending a first annual "Goat Clinic" Presentations on Goat feed nutrition, Proper Goat care and maintenance, and the benefits of having a Goat. There will be Goat milking, cheese making, and Goat milk soap demos. A week ago I attended the Hernando County Fairgrounds for the Milking Goat Show. There is so much to learn and plan for. So far one of the amazing contacts I've had the pleasure of meeting supplied me with this link about everything milking goats,  Fias Co Farm  totally amazing website for anyone wanting to learn how to keep milking goats.

Southern Dream Photography

So this is our start to Southern Dream Farm, six chicks lorded over by a beautiful but nasty tempered goose, five dogs, two teen aged girls and a lot of research :)