4.12.2009

Home On The "FARM"





Well....... 'farm' may be a bit of an exaggeration, but with my garden beds now fenced off from the chooks with a stretch of makeshift netting and a wooden gateway it has affectionately become known as 'the farm' and I am fully embracing it!






I have a vision for the 'farm'. It is a vision splendid. I have been looking back through the archives of Path To Freedom and have seen that they started with something not that much different to what we currently have. I think we even have a little more space.




Reading their journal is so inspiring. They didn't wait until they had their acreage in the country to start leading a more self sufficient lifestyle, they jumped in where they were, in the city in Pasadena and just made the most of the space they had.
















So, whilst my 'farm' is not a huge area, it does have it's advantages. It is only 20 steps away from my back door, yet I am still within walking distance from the little shop, post office and the boys' school. It is small but extremely manageable. There is room for expansion ( a whole two square metres! ) and I can run and get anything from the area when I am cooking.



It would appear that the more joy I am finding around my home, the less I search for outside 'entertainment'. I like the planing, digging, seed raising, harvesting and preserving that comes from having a garden. They are 'feel good' activities. I could never find that sense of joy in shopping mall!


I like falling into bed at night knowing that I have worked hard all day. It seems I fall into bed exhausted yet wake refreshed ready to start a new adventure, or try something new.

Our boys finished school on Thursday and don't go back until the 28th april. I am really happy about having them home because there is so much 'home learning' to do. Sometimes their school days interrupt real learning ( and my boys have great teachers this year!) - I know that sounds strange, but to me ( and I spent eight years as a primary school teacher) parents are the first educators of their children. Kids learn the most amazing things by osmosis up until the age of five. They learn at least one language, how to crawl, walk, count, the names and attributes of animals and things in nature. They even learn to read! Then, once they start school, we seem to think that they can't learn independently anymore. They need a 'teacher' to tell them what to learn. For boys that classify birds, write 'how to manuals', cook, build, design lego robots, paint artworks and solve puzzles, it can be pretty boring to go to school and colour in sheets that say " F is for firetruck" LOL


So, school holidays is the chance to rev up some passion for learning. We will even take them to Sydney to some museums to spark some curiosity.


But for now....... can't stop to talk..... got to get back to the farm... - crops to plant, corn to harvest! LOL


4 comments:

A Bite of Country Cupcakes said...

How excitng fresh vegies soon and eggs!
The learning thing is soo true.
It is nice for the kids to learn from a different perspective again...
We never ever really stop learning do we?

Kristy said...

Where you say "It would appear that the more joy I am finding around my home, the less I search for outside 'entertainment'. I like the planing, digging, seed raising, harvesting and preserving that comes from having a garden. They are 'feel good' activities. I could never find that sense of joy in shopping mall!

I like falling into bed at night knowing that I have worked hard all day. It seems I fall into bed exhausted yet wake refreshed ready to start a new adventure, or try something new. "

Absoloutely. I am looking forward to this very much once my youngest is a little older - currently 9 weeks old and in the wrap often ;) I too intend to 'earn' my living by 'growing' our home and garden, and doing all 'those things' that you know about.

Thankyou for the entertaining read :)

(from one who didn't finish her Law Degree, but can do the job I want to do without it, and plans some liason/advocacy in the future)

Dina Roberts said...

I agree with everything you say about kids learning at home.

I'm surprised you don't homeschool. You sound like one of our spokespeople ; )

I think children are VERY self-motivated to learn. They don't always learn what we want and when we want. But they do learn!

It's just like adults. Do we stop wanting to learn when we graduate from school? No. If we did, the Internet, bookstores, seminars, etc. would all be out of business.

Anonymous said...

I can relate to so many of your thoughts. I will always see my husband and i as our daughters main 'teacher'.

I love that you call your garden 'the farm'. Makes me smile. My small vege garden is fenced off from the remainder of our property. i think I am going to steal your cute name and start calling it 'the farm'.

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