People romanticize farm life easily and there certainly are times when it's the 'good life'. Then there are times when you're digging ditches and forking compost. Somewhere in between those two is a solution to living well. Whether it's putting just the right rose bush in the garden or digging a pond for the ducks, North Farthing online is a place to share those stories of success (and failure) with others walking the same path. Time was that 'community' meant people within horse cart distance but nowadays with farmers coming from all walks of life and taking on all sorts of challenges, big and small, new and old, we can finally put the power of the internet to a good use and make a communtiy that spans the whole countryside. And being homegrown in Canada, it will have our own national spin.
But Northing Farthing isn't just a concept. It's also an actual place made up of twenty-five acres of old farmland that hadn't been touched or worked in decades. About a third of it is cleared with the rest in native woodlands. The plan is to build not only a house but walking and vegetable gardens, greenhouses, an apiary, and even rehab some of the dozens of old apple trees left over on the property planted by previous generations. Add a teahouse, a cookery school, a cheesemaker's kitchen, a ciderhouse, and perhaps even festival grounds and you've got the big picture in a nutshell. To help keep the farm going in this modern age, we'll also have select products for sale, not just from the farm, but things used on the farm from spices to broadforks. As the discussions in here present a need, we'll do our best to fill it with the products that lead to success and even throw in some of the fruits of our labor for all to enjoy.
The farm is all about finding a simpler solution to living in modern times. Growing some of your food, tending some bees, and building a home you can both enjoy and afford without paying a mortgage for five decades. It's about making instead of buying. It's about cooking from scratch instead of eating out of plastic boxes. It's about sitting on a deck with cider you made yourself and realizing simple is pretty darn good.
Forums and chat rooms will soon be here for like-minded people across Canada to talk about food, gardens, self-sufficiency, and a whole host of other topics of interest to those looking for a simpler, hand-made existence. From bread making to barn raising, stay tuned for the chance to talk to other people just like you striving for a better lifestyle.