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Life on the farm is a big change from, well, anywhere else I've lived. The first rule you have to learn is don't drink the water. Our water comes direct from a well and is ok for showering, washing dishes (if you dry them), laundry and such, but it is not safe to drink. For drinking and cooking, we have a water cooler with hot and cold spigots. Also for drinking and for brushing your teeth, we have small and big water bottles.
The house has no central air or heat. In summer, window AC units cool your room at night and windows stay open to try to cool things. With the humidity though, it does little to help. In winter, a wood burning stove in the front room stays stoked all winter. My dad installed a fan system to improve the efficiency of the stove. To keep the air from drying out, a kettle with water serves as a humidifier. We also have a space heater for use in the far reaches of the house where the heat of the fire does not go. In order to keep a fire going all winter, the family, with help from the missionaries and friends, spend the year cutting wood.
We have no house to house garbage service. Each Saturday, the garbage and recycling folks come to the elementary school and everyone brings their trash there.
While my house in Utah is decked out with a home theater and all sorts of technology, we are a little more low-tech here. We have a custom built, fast computer, a small tv, a wii, and surround sound, but for entertainment, we're more likely to be on the piano, walking around the farm chasing rabbits with the dog, shooting .22's by the barn, or playing a game. When the sun sets though, we'll click on the netflix.
We live on a farm, but civilization is only a few miles down the road. Our house sits in the Rural Crescent, a nickname for the area formally protected from urbanization by an Urban Growth Boundary. Back as far as the 1970's efforts have been made to steer population growth to areas where public services such as water and sewage could be provided more efficiently. In 1998, the Urban Growth Boundary was established to prevent over development. While there are a few exceptions in some areas, only one house is allowed every 10 acres, which restricts new building significantly. Our farm is actually owned by developers who pay someone to grow crops, rent the house to us, and are waiting for the day that they can build a subdivision. It will likely be many years before that happens though, as the fight for the Rural Crescent is an intense one. Every year, proposals go before the county board to try to bust the Rural Crescent.
Anyway...just down the road is the edge of the Rural Crescent and within 10 miles we have a Target, Chick Fil A, and other places we don't usually go. We do our shopping a bit further away and being only 40 miles from downtown DC, there are plenty of HUGE malls and IMAX theaters to have lots to do. There are also loads of Civil War sites. In fact, a small battle that set up the Second Battle of Manassas happened right here in August 1862. The Battle of Kettle Run likely had some fighting that happened right on the property we live on. The historical marker for the battle is a mile down the street.
I'll take some pictures of the farm and put them up on here later this week.
Song of the Day today is "Back Home Again" by John Denver.
The house has no central air or heat. In summer, window AC units cool your room at night and windows stay open to try to cool things. With the humidity though, it does little to help. In winter, a wood burning stove in the front room stays stoked all winter. My dad installed a fan system to improve the efficiency of the stove. To keep the air from drying out, a kettle with water serves as a humidifier. We also have a space heater for use in the far reaches of the house where the heat of the fire does not go. In order to keep a fire going all winter, the family, with help from the missionaries and friends, spend the year cutting wood.
We have no house to house garbage service. Each Saturday, the garbage and recycling folks come to the elementary school and everyone brings their trash there.
While my house in Utah is decked out with a home theater and all sorts of technology, we are a little more low-tech here. We have a custom built, fast computer, a small tv, a wii, and surround sound, but for entertainment, we're more likely to be on the piano, walking around the farm chasing rabbits with the dog, shooting .22's by the barn, or playing a game. When the sun sets though, we'll click on the netflix.
We live on a farm, but civilization is only a few miles down the road. Our house sits in the Rural Crescent, a nickname for the area formally protected from urbanization by an Urban Growth Boundary. Back as far as the 1970's efforts have been made to steer population growth to areas where public services such as water and sewage could be provided more efficiently. In 1998, the Urban Growth Boundary was established to prevent over development. While there are a few exceptions in some areas, only one house is allowed every 10 acres, which restricts new building significantly. Our farm is actually owned by developers who pay someone to grow crops, rent the house to us, and are waiting for the day that they can build a subdivision. It will likely be many years before that happens though, as the fight for the Rural Crescent is an intense one. Every year, proposals go before the county board to try to bust the Rural Crescent.
Anyway...just down the road is the edge of the Rural Crescent and within 10 miles we have a Target, Chick Fil A, and other places we don't usually go. We do our shopping a bit further away and being only 40 miles from downtown DC, there are plenty of HUGE malls and IMAX theaters to have lots to do. There are also loads of Civil War sites. In fact, a small battle that set up the Second Battle of Manassas happened right here in August 1862. The Battle of Kettle Run likely had some fighting that happened right on the property we live on. The historical marker for the battle is a mile down the street.
I'll take some pictures of the farm and put them up on here later this week.
Song of the Day today is "Back Home Again" by John Denver.
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