Getting There, Working Toward, GNOWFGLINS™

Those who stumble here, or purposely visit, could easily assume that we have “arrived” in terms of reaching our goals of eating GNOWFGLINS™ (God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season).

We haven’t. But we’re working toward it.

Even before we bought this property in the Pacific Northwest on which we now live, we had a goal to provide most of our own food. But lately, this desire burns within us more deeply. We can point to many reasons.

– the talk of possible food shortages

– the difficulty of purchasing inexpensive, local, quality food

– the high transportation costs (for us to get to a store, and for the food to get to a store)

– the volatility of the food industry, whose increasing prices are influenced by market speculation

– the increasing bondage of people to the corporations who supply their necessities such as housing, food and work

We have positive reasons as well. Namely,

– the desire to worship our Creator by participating in His design of animal- and food-tending

– the desire to give our children experience with a natural way of living that is not materialistic

– the hope that one day, we would be part of a community of people devoted to meeting each others’ needs, both spiritual (fellowship, worship of our Creator) and necessary (food, shelter, water, clothing)

Practically speaking, we desire to put our land to good use in producing much of our own food. We envision goats, chickens, fruit trees, nut trees, a greenhouse, an outdoor garden, a cellar for food storage, grey water systems to reuse our water, rain water collection, and more. We want to grow skills in the areas of garment sewing, food preservation, composting, home-grown meat butchering, construction, and use of hand tools. What things we can’t do for ourselves, we seek to support locally and within our community. These are high goals, but we have very good reasons for pursuing them.

Very soon, we will have fences up to move some goats in. That will be exciting! We need to work on our water system and finish up a retaining wall project before we can add the gardens and/or greenhouse. Time is a factor and so is money.

Whoever you are and whatever are your goals, please know that we are “in process” (as I daresay most people are). Let’s encourage one another and share our passions with one another. You can help us on our journey; and we hope that our striving will help you.