Green Acres Is The Place For Me (by John)

Well normally I wouldn't post more than one blog in a day. However, I am trying to shift my blog posts to the evening because trying to post in the morning before work makes me run late. So for a bit, more posting in the evening. I think you will all enjoy this post.

Apparently Wendi has received multiple questions about my interest in farming. She has mentioned it a few times on this blog, and it usually leaves people asking, “John wants to do what? Why?” So I am here to answer those questions, or at least give my reasons for them.

First off, let me answer a few of the common questions: Yes, I still want and plan to be a physician. No, I do not want to live on a commune. No, I have not become a tree-hugger.

Also, while this has been a goal (dream?) of mine for a number of years, I have no idea where the Lord will lead us in the future, so I cannot say that any of this is definitely in our future. With that said, let me begin to defend my position (obsession).

I have always been drawn to nature and to animals in much the same way I suspect as the naturalists of the past. Throughout my life, as my family and friends can attest to, I always had pets from stores and from the wild where I grew up. Dogs, cats, fish (both fresh and saltwater), snakes (corn snakes, albino corn snakes, pythons, tree snakes, water snakes, king snakes, milk snakes, glass snakes (which are really lizards), and ring-necked snakes), birds (finches, cuckoo birds, ducks, nighthawks, lovebirds), turtles, lizards, frogs, all kinds of bugs, caterpillars, moths and butterflies, mice, hamsters, and even a raccoon (it may have been a opossum – it was still very young and hairless when it died). All these animals I would find, catch, or buy and then read as many books as I could find about them. Where did they come from? How do they live? How can I help them thrive… or at least, how do I keep from killing them?

A second reason I feel compelled to move to the “country” has to do with my calling to open spaces. I love to get out into the wild, to camp and hike and hunt. I never had much of a chance to do that type of thing growing up, and I think I missed out a little in that area. I want my kids to experience this. I want them to have a better appreciation of nature than most kids in America do. It baffles me to hear of college graduates not knowing that potatoes and peanuts grow underground or that Brussel sprouts grow on stalks.

Brussel sprouts growing on the stalk.

Potato plant

Peanut plant - note the little peanuts growing in the roots.

A third reason closely linked to the previous has to do with how I want to live. I want to be done with high crime and fear of walking outside at night. Of locking doors and barring windows. Of crack houses and cop chases. I want to get away from the crowds and the rat race. Not to insult anyone reading this, but I cannot stand the way people live like so many ants, houses piled right on top of each other, paying ridiculous prices for an eighth-acre lot when that same amount of money could buy fifty acres of dense woodland, open meadows, small streams, and fresh air. After living in the suburbs, in apartments, townhouses, duplexes, and condos, I want to be free of the congestion. I won’t even mention the rush hour traffic for fear of making my blood pressure rise! I desire a slower pace to life.

A final reason has to do with my philosophy on farming. I have for a long time thought there is a way to manage the land to yield not only food for humans and animals, but to create a healthier and ecologically friendlier environment. I will explain this philosophy in more detail in future posts if Wendi wants me to, but suffice it to say that I want to try to put into practice some of my theories in alternative and healthier farming practices.

So that sums it up. These are the main reasons I have such an interest in farming. Hope that explains things a little bit and alleviates the fears that poor Wendi has married a man who has lost his mind… well, I guess that doesn’t really alleviate those fears, but at least I have given the reasons for my insanity!