I am a city girl, born and raised. My husband, on the other hand, grew up on a farm. When I married him, even though we were both living in suburbs of big cities, I knew that nothing would make him happier than to get his hands into the soil again. His detour through the Ivy League didn't turn him from his passion for farming.
After 7 years of marriage, we finally found ourselves in a place where we could buy a farm. Fortunately, my husband knew what to look for. I thought the land looked pretty ... scenic. I knew to check soil types on the USDA's Web Soil Survey site. He knew to look for water under the land. A farm that doesn't sit on a good source of water is a very risky proposition (right -- duh, city girl, I know). We were buying the land coming out of one year of drought, going into a second year of drought (but how could you know?).
So, we found a farm in Cyril, Oklahoma (pronounced Suh-RIL).
Cyril, OK is about 5 minutes from where we live now. Turns out that the soil is excellent -- fine sandy loam -- so it passed the soil test. The farm sits on the Rush Springs Aquifer, so we are good for water. The farm is 80 acres, which is small by Oklahoma standards, but is plenty big for what we want to do. Although, if the neighbors wanted to sell us another 40, we'd take it!
The thing about being out in the country, the internet notwithstanding, is that you get to (have to) spend a lot of time alone with yourself. A city or suburb or even a house full of children can distract you from being alone with yourself. I suspect the being alone will probably be the biggest challenge for me. I guess we'll see.
I grew up in a "Big Fat Greek Family" so I am used to being surrounded by family, friends, activities and commotion. We'll be planting vineyards soon. That is our homage to my Greek heritage. Vineyards go in in March. Garlic goes in next week. We're looking to put in a hoop house so we can have tomatoes most of the year. Add some herbs and I can get cooking!
