We named our farm 3 Flat Acres soon after buying it in the fall of 2006 (wow - has it been that long already?). Might not make sense to some as it is a 20 acre farm.
A little history first. Six months after we got married, Bill and I purchased a multi-unit building in Chicago. Local vernacular in Chicago calls multi unit buildings "flats" - like they do in London. Our building is a 3 Flat which means that it has three apartments. To say this is a fixer-upper is an understatement. It was crawling with cockroaches and in one of the bathrooms, the bathtub was about to fall through the floor because of leaking water and rotten walls and floors. Anyway - I won't bore you with all of the work we have done, but we have been working on it and living in one of the apartments consistently since 1997.
About 8 years after purchase, the building started to very slowly, bit by bit, make us money instead of consistently costing us money (in repairs and rehabs). After almost 13 years we are now at the point where it has given us the financial freedom to pursue our farm dreams. It has been a long road full of late nights, weekends full of work, and frankly still living in an apartment in our mid-40s but we have always believed that our sacrifices would eventually pay off. The income is now finally able to pay for the building and the farm.
But back to the farm. Our 20 acre farm is very hilly. We are in the driftless region of Southwest Wisconsin. We don't have much flat area on our farm. Enough to put growing beds in areas and allow for crop rotation, but it is not at all like the prairie in western IL where my grandparents farmed from fenceline to fenceline. One day after purchasing our farm, I said to Bill, 'I think we should name our farm 3 Flat Acres - it fairly accurately describes the topography, but it also pays homage to our 3 flat in Chicago that has allowed us to pursue this dream.' He readily agreed and that is how our farm was named.
A journal of our adventures in construction, garlic farming and growing our own food as we transition from life in Chicago to life in Southwestern Wisconsin.
3 comments:
Your dream is so close to becoming reality. I like how you came up with the name. I was wondering if you had 3 flat acres too, but know in that part of WI, it's almost impossible.
Barb - Thanks. It is so close sometimes it becomes a bit overwhelming!
Overwhelmed...that's what I feel all the time lately. That 20 minutes does wonders though.
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