“Come see what I built!”

It was an invitation from my then almost-9-year-old son to visit the space he had built for himself to ‘get away from it all’.   He led me carefully through one of the many patches of undergrowth near our little cabin, thick with salmon berries just starting to bud with bright green leaves (and sticky thorns).  Then we came upon it – a tiny little hut, built with intricate layers of windfall branches and ferns, its entrance hidden by a particularly dense spray of hemlock.

“It’s where I can lie and listen to the sounds of the forest, and the songs of the birds.”

And right then I knew my decision to leave our city life behind was the right one.

Our Journey from Subdivision to Townhouse to Log Cabin in the Woods

I always thought I'd move out of the city when I children joined my life.  I just didn't realize what a huge difference it would make to my son - or myself.

I grew up in a rural community – in a subdivision, mind you, but in a district where only 20,000 people lived along a narrow strip of land stretching 70 miles along the rocky coast.  Bears visited our backyard regularly, and we spent our weekends in the mountains, exploring abandoned logging camps and old First Nations villages, hiking to extinct volcanic craters, and riding dirt bikes in the empty lots down the street.  We learned all the native edible and medicinal plants, the names of all the trees towering above, and which wild birds like which sorts of native berries.  We fished, rode motorbikes, and got dirty.  In other words, we spent most of our waking hours outside.

When my son was born in 2003 and we ended up in a townhouse on a busy road in the city, all those amazing childhood experiences came flooding back - and I realized, sadly, that his life was going to be very different.  His school days would be interrupted by sirens and construction projects, he'd have to sidestep doggy doo (and other nasties) every time he went for a walk in the forest, and he'd never really know the joys of silence.  For his own memories' sake, I wanted him to know a summer day where all you can hear is crickets, the rustling of the wind in dry, tall grass, and the distant hum of a float plane buzzing to some far flung island.  The chance of experiencing any of that living in a townhouse?  Nada.

I loved so many things about our city, nestled between sea and mountain, but getting my little guy out into 'nature' was an more of an effort than I was able to pull off most days.  During my maternity leave, we'd hop on the bus and spend our days in the forest (with him on my back in a carrier) but once I went back to work, there just never seemed to be enough time.  Moving closer to the nature was out of the question - real estate in our part of the world is crazy at best - the average home price at the time was somewhere around $800K.  Decent townhouses closer to the forest on a quiet street?  About $600K.  So it was either noisy townhouse or the alternative - moving - and  I struggled with it every single day.

It was when he got a little older and I'd find him entranced by the comings and goings of ants and wood bugs that I decided that this child was born to be in the country.  He just oozed it.  His first word wasn't 'cat' or 'juice', but 'moon'.  So I started planning for a very different life... a life somewhere quieter where he could become who he was meant to be, without distraction.

Now, we could have moved anywhere, but it was important that my guy be close to his grandparents.  In other words, our choice was pretty simple - we moved back to my hometown, only a 40 minute ferry ride, but what felt like a world, away.  It was 2008, and I had no idea how I was going to make it work, but I'd been building my skill set for years and studying everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with rural living, homesteading and the transition from city to country living.  Was I terrified?  Um... yeah.  But terror slowly turned to 'I can do this!', and we never looked back.

So here we are, just over 4 years later, well ensconced into a new/old life in the forest.  My son attends a Waldorf School surrounded by trees and streams, and right across a quiet country road from the beach.  He gets to see his grandparents pretty much every day - something I never experienced in my own childhood - and spends his non-school time listening to the wind in the trees, collecting and studying bugs and other critters, and communing with our flock of 20 chickens (17 hens and three roosters, to be exact).  And now that we've been here awhile, the benefits of the move are becoming clearer every single day.

The Benefits

First off, please know that I'm no child development expert and I can't tell you conclusively that living in the country is any 'better' than living in the city, as they both clearly have their pros and cons, but there are a few things I've observed over the past 4 years that I think are worth noting:

1. Room to Run – This one goes without saying.  Children need to move and run and stretch their limbs in order for their physical and mental capacities to develop in a healthy way, and that's pretty difficult in a 1000 square foot apartment with a tiny rooftop deck.  They don't need a lot of space, but the simple joy of being able to move freely when the impulse strikes is a real treat to watch.  If my son wants to run across the yard on all fours, he can do that - without crashing into anything or stepping into anyone else's space (but chicken poop, maybe).
2. Quiet for the Imagination – A big reason why we decided on Waldorf Education, and moved to a rural community, was this - the preservation, and development of, my child's imagination.  Not that imagination can't develop in the city, of course - some of our most brilliant people were raised in urban environments - but there's something about quiet, being in nature, that just invites creative thinking and problem-solving, especially for children who are sensitive.  With the challenges we're facing in the world, we need creative people, unencumbered by rigid or stunted thought processes and the distraction of 24/7 noise.
3. Exposure to the Natural World – As you know, our planet is in somewhat of a crisis on the environmental front.  Species extinctions, systemic pollution, habitat loss... our children need to be connected to the natural world now more than ever.  If they don't feel like they're a part of the world around them, how can we expect them to care about it?  So your child spending quiet, extended time in nature benefits us all, and will for generations.  I simply can't see how my son would care anywhere near as much about the creatures of the world and its natural systems as he does if he didn't get to see and feel and touch them every day.
4. No Billboards or In-Your-Face Marketing - This one is HUGE for me - there simply isn't anywhere near the bombardment of visual marketing as there is in the city, where every surface is covered with images talking our children into 'needing' things they don't really need at all, and doing things they really have no business doing.  Think about the effects of mainstream media and marketing on children, and then imagine what it would be like to not have that in your child's face every day.  It's liberating, and so much better because kids are left alone to be just that - kids.
5. Time to be Together – I'm blessed to work from home, and I'm incredibly busy with my business, but I'm able to spend a lot more time with my son than I did when we lived in the city and I worked in an office, mostly by nature of the fact that we aren't spending hours in traffic every day, nor are we signed up for umpteen lessons and activities.  It's been incredibly freeing, and rewarding, to be able to spend time with him - even when I'm working and serving clients and he's just hanging out with the chickens or drawing pictures of trolls and eagles.  Child development expert Gordon Neufeld talks extensively about the importance of children being 'attached' to their caregivers and not their peers - it's much easier to do this when you can actually spend a lot of time together.

Of course, as with anything worth exploring, there are downsides, but in our experience, the great things that have come from our move out of the city far outweigh the negatives, which are, well, pretty much non-existent.  Sure sometimes it's a struggle to get everything done, the power goes out a lot, and we don't have any neighbours at all, let alone with children, so spontaneous play with other kids is sort of out of the question, but even with all that, I can't imagine living anywhere else.  I'll let Jonah wrap it up:  Why I Like Living in the Country

Are you planning a move to the country with your children?  Do you have any concerns or worries?  If so, leave us a comment on the blog or on Facebook to hear from others who've made the move and are loving it... it's a super supportive group and we love sharing what we've learned.  See you there!

My kids on their first walk in the field! 

Several months ago my family took the leap and moved to a home in rural  Southern Tier of Western New York. To my five children still living at home, this was the adventure of their lives. Driving away from the urban wilds of Buffalo the children spied their first 'real' cows, deer, and more open land than they'd ever seen.

After we were settled in, I took the kids out to explore. We wandered through the field behind the house and down an old trail in the national forest that butts up to our yard. While we explored, I found the tell-tale signs of some of my favorite treats: berries!

The field was chock-full of wild strawberry plants. In thickets around the edges of the forest and field there were raspberry canes and blackberry brambles. As the winter slowly melted away, we kept six sets of hungry eyes on the plants.

A wild strawberry bloom tempting us in May. 

One day in late June my seven year old ran into the house, “Mommy, I see a tiny strawberry!” That day turned into the kid's first berry hunt outside of a grocery store. I  was filled with pride watching my city kids become country kids, but the berry hunt was the turning point in their plant appreciation. Searching through the tall grass, the kids would pop up with a mouth or hand full of berries. Cries of “Found some!” echoed through the field.

After the filed was mowed for hay, berry hunting became much easier. Even my smallest, 20 months old now, learned to find strawberries. Luckily she held them up first for me to identify, once she came up with a snail!

As June melted into July, the raspberries came on. Every day we would hunt for them. The yields were not spectacular due to the drought, but it was enough for snacks. After the raspberries stopped producing we found something that sent me into the throes of berry ecstasy: blackberries. While the strawberries and raspberries were wonderful, there's just something about blackberries that make my Southern Girl heart flutter. Memories of blackberry cobbler, pie, jam, and syrup bubbling in my great-grandmother's kitchen flash though my mind's eye.

Sweet promises of the deliciousness to come. 

The best of these black delights spring up in the forest. So far I've found three different species, my favorite are the dewberries. My children, well, their favorites are whichever berry happens to fill their mouths. We go on berry hunts and delve ever deeper into the forest. On one trip out, the children stayed at home and somehow my best friend and I accidentally climbed a mountain.

We're still not sure how that one happened. It didn't matter, because hidden on top of the mountain was a treasure trove of the biggest, juiciest, most succulent black berries we had ever seen.  Suddenly I found myself climbing dead-falls, jumping off of stumps, and crawling through the underbrush just like when I lived on the farm over a decade ago. No brambles or bear would get in my way. The only trouble I ran into? My silly dog eating the berries from the bush. I didn't hold it against her, I had a few handfuls myself.

So far we've done quite a few things since moving from urban to rural life. I've taught my family what I know about gardening, plant identification, and we've sampled some of the tastes nature has for us. It is amazing watching my children become country kids. This summer we're picking berries, next summer, who knows?

Well, I did it. I milked a goat. I thought it would hard to do, but it was more of a mental block than it being a difficult chore. It wasn’t so bad, well until the goat stepped into the bucket.

In my family’s move to be more self-sufficient, there have been many such obstacles. The knowledge is there but there is sometimes the question of “can I really do this?” surfaces. My family started this move 1 ½ years ago. My husband, Rick and I had purchased an old (1890) huge rectory house that sat on 8 acres in July 2009, but due to the purchase agreement we waited until July 2011 to move in.
 

In the fall of 2010, I had been a high school agricultural teacher for 14 years and was suffering from major teacher burnout and our home life was suffering due to my long hours and high stress levels. Rick and I sat down talked and prayed about what we should do. We, along with divine guidance, decided I should resign the following year (May 2011) and become a stay at home mom for our 3 daughters; Banion (7 yrs), Bethany (4 yrs) and Emma (3yrs) and work on our new farm growing and producing food for our family. Rick works for an area wind farm. Our family goal is to have a family farm similar in the 1940s/1950s; self-sufficient, but possibly produce a bit extra to sell.

The family moved in August 2011 to the country. By fall, the family included 2 rabbits, 1 pig (butchered in November), 19 laying hens and 1 self-confident rooster. We have worked hard in and out of house. Rick and I ripped out carpet and refinished the wood floors, remodeled the office and laundry room, and are currently working on the main floor bath. Well, was working on, but spring hit and that project is on hold as we work on outside projects. In the last month, the family has expanded by 5 rabbits, 92 broiler chicks, 13 replacement layers, 2 milking goats, and 3 goat kids, so fencing, building chicken tractors, and holding pens have become the new priority.

The plan is to raise the rabbits for meat. We will keep 3 does and a buck through the winter, but butcher the rest for meat and fur. I am a little nervous about how the girls will take it, but we have been honest with them from the start of the rabbit venture. I plan on having them chose the rabbits we will keep, hopefully that will help.

The layer hens are used for eggs. I pay Banion with 5 dz eggs a week that she can sell in exchange for helping with evening chicken and rabbit chores. She is saving up for an incubator. My youngest daughter Emma, now 4, is the official egg collector. However, I must go out with her to get them because she is afraid of Rusty, the rooster. I hope to remedy this problem when I move him to the chicken tractor after we butcher our broilers in early May. I built 3 tractors. I am using them for the broilers and young replacement chicks for now, but am going to put all of my birds in them during the summer to keep them out of my garden. I have ordered 4 guineas for insect control.

During my former life as an ag teacher, I taught about dairy cows, but had never touched on milking goats or any goat topic come to think of it. I have experienced a sharp learning curve. Luckily I have a couple seasoned goat professionals, I can call on or even text my questions to.  I even built a goat milking stanchion. 

I tweaked the plans to include a flip down seat and ramp. I am thinking about applying floor grip to the floor since the wood seems a bit slippery when the goats climb up or down. Construction stuff I know, I am a seasoned DIY’er but I am still learning about goats.

In the next month, I plan on preparing my garden bed, building a cold frame using some old windows that we replaced on the house and recycled wine bottles, finishing the new rabbit hutch, butchering the broilers, finishing putting up the pig pen, and of course chores. We are expecting 2 pig weanlings in 2 weeks and are on a dairy’s waiting list for 3 bottle calves.

My eldest Banion (now 8) tells everyone she is now a country girl, since she lives in the country and has farm animals. I wonder when I will start feeling like one. I can’t say I have ever been a city girl. I grew up in rural Rapid City, South Dakota (pop. 60,000) and have spent the last 15 years living in Woonsocket, SD, population 750, but I thought I would feel different actually living on the farm. Not yet, maybe I am too tired from all of the chores, fencing, planning, and of course being a mom. 

If you can count on me for anything, it's to give you the straight goods on country living.   No fluff.

You're not going to find me waxing poetic about how la-de-da wonderful everything is every moment of every day - especially when it comes to the real benefits and challenges of living in the country.

Let me kick this off by making it super clear that I LOVE living in the woods.  I've been back here for 3-and-a-half years (after growing up in the area many moons ago), and I can honestly say that (at this point anyway) I never want to live in the city again.  Visit, for sure.  But to live full-time?  Absolutely not. 

But I can't help but feel for people who are seduced by books and articles and sometimes friends and acquaintances painting a ridiculously rosy picture of the rural life.  I'm sure we've all heard the stories of the city-dwellers who packed up everything and moved to the country, assuming they'd done their research, only to find they couldn't make friends, hated the neighbor's wayward cows, and spent too many hours commuting to their jobs, completely blowing their new found 'quality of life' right out of the water.

So today, I wanted to get my own list of challenges of rural living down 'on paper' (pros/benefits to follow in my next post).  If it helps even one person considering a move from the city to ensure their decision is the right one for them, I'll be happy!  Country living is amazing, but it's definitely not for everyone.  I definitely don't have all the answers - far from it - and I've made a very LONG list of my own mistakes.  That said, I hope this helps:

The Cons/Challenges/Drawbacks to Living in a Rural Community

This list is really hard for me to write, because I don't want to sound ungrateful (or like I know it all - I SO don't), but the truth is that for many folks used to city living, country living is a really foreign thing.  Very foreign!  Sometimes so foreign it drives them more than a little bonkers - or leaves them in tears.  Or divorced.

So without further ado, here are a few things I've found personally, and heard from others, about the things they found most challenging the first year or two after moving from city to country:

1. Feeling like part of a community - Social circles in many small communities can be notoriously hard to break into.  I've met a lot of people who have moved to our community from the city who have said it was really challenging to make friends here.  The 'old-timers' can be suspicious of newcomers (sometimes with good reason), and a small group of recent transplants want to pull up the drawbridge behind them, shooting resentful rhetoric and angry glances to anyone who moves in after them.  I've also heard this is one of the big fears of many considering moving to a rural community.  The best way to get through this?  Volunteer.  Once you're settled, get out there and start donating a portion of your time and services to local social agencies, your children's school, or a food security group.  There's no better way to show you want to be part of a community than getting involved.
2. Getting used to the quiet - and the new sounds - If you've lived in the city for any amount of time, and especially if you've never lived anywhere else, the relative quiet of the country can be enough to make you want to break out the white noise machine.  Say what you want about loud conversations and honking horns, but there's something reassuring about knowing there are other people about.  Those first few nights are going to be painful - don't count on sleeping much.  I spent my first few weeks here in a very sleep-deprived state thanks to all the unfamiliar thumps, bumps and 'woos' out in the black woods.  There's really no way to avoid this - your city nervous system will need some time to mellow out.  And mellow out it will!  Eventually, you'll be able to relax and enjoy the peace.
3. Not being able to sleep in anymore (or go away for the weekend) once you have livestock - I have to be honest and say that this one kept us from adding chickens to our little homestead sooner than we did.  The idea of having to find someone to care for them every time we wanted to go away for more than a few hours sort of put the kaibosh on my self-reliance plans for awhile.  But then we found a solution - co-parenting!  I guess you could call it co-op livestock.  We found friends who wanted to share in the cost and responsibility and voila, we were egg farmers!  OK, it wasn't quite that easy, but knowing we've got built-in chicken sitters made the decision a whole lot easier.  My parents also help out since my Dad's sawmill is just down the road from us and he's there pretty much every day.  We all share in the eggs, and sell the excess to pay for the feed.  Win-win all around.  Now if we were talking cows or goats, the story  might be different, but I can't see why it wouldn't work with the right mix of people and critters.
4. Distance from medical facilities - This is something a lot of people don't think about.  Unless you're a master herbalist, aromatherapist, paramedic, doctor or trained in the military (or maybe even if you are), you're likely going to need a doctor every once in awhile.  And if you've got children, elderly parents, or a medical condition that requires regular care, you'll want to ensure you have access to appropriate medical facilities.  Every day I read about people complaining about lack of medical facilities in the communities they've recently moved to.  This is something you'll absolutely want to check out ahead of time.
5. Much reduced entertainment opportunities - We're so lucky - we're close enough to the city to have world-class musicians, theatre and other arts performances make their way across the water to play here.  We've even got a number of the super famous who actually live in our communities (not that we see them often - they come here to get away from their flocks of admirers... it's a great place for that, disappearing).  We've got two movie theatres (in two different communities), a couple of video rental places (because the internet speed can be far too slow - or throttled - to watch streaming video), poetry readings, dances, art shows, galleries, sports teams, studios, top-notch restaurants - there's no shortage of things to do.  I remember when we first arrived, thinking, "What on earth are we going to do here?"  But that's never, ever been a problem.  Smaller communities may not have the huge variety of opportunities, but even the tiniest town has dances and social events, touring musicians and farmers' markets.  And if there is nothing - there's your opportunity to start something!
6. Bugs - I lived in the city for 22 years.  And in that time, I forgot what mosquitoes were.  There just weren't any buzzing around the townhouse.  And then I came back here.  Holy moly, those suckers are big!  And they're nothing here compared to some parts of the country.  What does this mean?  We can't eat dinner outside in summer without a screen tent - or some sort of bug zapper that we haven't yet invested in.  Great for the chickens and bats, not so great for our social life.  Good thing we've got our essential oils now to ward of the blood sucking beasts!
7. Power outages - It goes without saying that country life means power outages.  More trees means more potential for downed or shorted out lines.  And less population means fewer available staff, and let's face it, lower priority, when a big storm blows through the region.  You can plan for this with alternate power and/or light and heat sources, emergency food stores, and knowing what parts of the area are less likely to experience power outages.  Here, we just happen to be on the trunk that goes out every time the wind blows.  And no, I didn't check that out before we moved.  Wish I would have!
8. Fending off wildlife - Some areas have more of an issue with this than others, but most rural homesteads will experience run-ins with wildlife.  Add livestock, and the ante is upped.  Here we have birds of prey (hawks, mostly), black bear, coyotes, weasels, mountain lion and apparently wolves moving back into their historic ranges.  Then there are the marauding elk, and the deer (which all of the other predators are feeding on), and the smaller critters like mice and squirrels that can do incredible damage if left unchecked.  My own feeling on this is that the wildlife has as much right to be here as we do, and that my plunking ourselves down in amongst them, with yummy-smelling livestock penned and fenced and sitting 'ducks', and warm homes for the smaller creatures to nest in, we're taking on a huge responsibility to keep everyone safe.  I know a lot of people will just shoot any predator or pest on their property, rather than work through deterrence programs and securing their livestock properly.  I know it won't make me popular to say this, but when you put your family and livestock on a rural property, it's your job to keep everyone safe - and that includes the indigenous creatures (unless they are creatures you can add to your food stores, of course - that's different...).  If you keep finding wild snakes in your henhouse, it's time to secure the henhouse, not keep shooting the snakes.  Native snakes have an important place in the ecology of your local area.  Just sayin'...
9. Lack of rural living skills - I think it's pretty clear that if you can't split firewood, have a black thumb, or have trouble dispatching a chicken if it's mortally injured or on it's last legs, then homesteading can prove pretty challenging.  I say this as someone who still has very few rural living skills, at least compared to someone who has been doing this for years.  Sure I can split shakes, pile firewood, wash clothes without electricity, know the habits of our local predators and am taking a Permaculture Design Course - but there's so, so much to learn!  I haven't yet had to dispatch a chicken (the coyote did that for me, unplanned, of course), and I've yet to put away a full winter's worth of food in a root cellar, but I fully intend to learn how - and soon.  But let's not despair and think it all hopeless - the great news is that there are literally thousands of books, magazines, YouTube videos and websites devoted to exactly this - teaching rural living skills to newbies.  I've had the pleasure of experiencing many of them, and I know will be connecting with many more.  But the best teacher, I have to say, is experience.  We just need to get out there and do it, no matter how freaky it is to our urban sensibilities.
10. Making a living - When I talk to prospective 'modern homesteaders', this is the challenge that comes up most often.  How to do it and not starve.  Or without having to give up some of our favorite things.  Personally, I've been able to do this in a way that works for us (though I'm still working out the kinks), putting my corporate experience to work in my own web and design business, run via satellite internet from my little cabin in the woods.  Others have one partner commuting to a 'regular' job while the other gets the homestead under way.  The key here is to be open to new ideas, take an inventory of your skills, and continually invest in your future.  If you choose to start your own business, get an experienced mentor, try to do it without too much (or any) debt, but most of all - set the fear aside and go for it!

The Wrap-up

Moving to the country is a huge step on the way to a more self-reliant life.  And it's absolutely not for everyone.  But those of us with 'the bug', it's a dream we just can't shake.  With this list, we can make sure we've poked and prodded the decision from every angle, so we know in our hearts it's the right one when we do put that down payment on that dream property.

Next time we'll get to the good stuff - the benefits of rural living!

Did we miss any challenges?  Do you know anyone who moved to the country but just couldn't take it?  We'd love to hear your stories in the comments below - your experiences might just help someone avoid a HUGE mistake!  Or better yet, encourage them to finally make the move...

I titled this blog “Adventures in Rural Living” because for our family, rural living has truly been an adventure.

We’ve lived on three rural properties and in several suburban and urban settings. By far, country living has offered the most challenges, as well as the most laughs for us and for our neighbors. Surprises — good and bad — seem to abound.

As time goes by, I’ll be sharing some of those highs and lows with you in detail, but today I’ll offer a brief glimpse at what I mean by the adventures of rural living.

• A cold morning displays a beautiful sunrise with long rays of sparkle glistening on fields of snow.
• A phone call from a neighbor informs you that your cows are in her yard — again.

• A bird’s nest with three delicate blue-green eggs is found on the tongue of your horse trailer.
• A piece of equipment breaks, requiring expensive repairs, and it turns out to be your own fault.

• A glance out the window reveals a doe and her fawn walking across your yard.
• A routine drive becomes a nightmare when your truck settles into a river of mud and turns on its side.

 
• A hen that disappeared a month ago walks out of the woods with a parade of baby chicks.
• A pleasant stroll makes your heart race when you see very fresh bear scat on your road.

• A visiting city child is awed by the opportunity to gather fresh eggs for his breakfast.
• A chimney fire has you worried when the fire department can’t find your house.

• A summer meal consists totally of foods you raised on your own property.
• A horse refuses to walk into the trailer when you are late for a 4H horse show.

• A grape picked on the day after the first frost is the sweetest thing you have ever, ever tasted.
• A frozen outdoor water spigot means hauling buckets of water from the house to the barn.

• A child tells you she would rather help you in the garden than watch television.
• A raccoon reaches through a hole in your chicken coop and leaves a laying hen with one wing.

• A tire swing on a gnarly old tree is the favorite toy of all the neighborhood kids.
• A tractor part breaks right in the middle of a big job on the only day you have time to do it.

• A cow in the pasture that was pregnant last time you looked suddenly has a wobbly calf standing at her side.

I’m ending with a positive point because the beautiful, exciting, and thrilling moments are some of the reasons we love rural living.

The other points? Those not-so-beautiful, unexciting, definitely not thrilling moments?

Well, we endure them. We survive them. We try to learn something from them. We hope they never happen again.

But we know they’re just part of the package.

Hello readers! My name is Marie, and I enjoy talking about the rural lifestyle. My husband, Jim, and I have always been “homesteaders at heart,” though most of our life has been spent in urban and suburban settings. We bought our first acreage in 1981, moved several times for job changes, and then found our “finally farm” in 2007.
 

Though they live elsewhere, our children and grandchildren share this slice of heaven with us. They come and go as they can, participating in farm projects and working on their own cabins and future home sites. Jim and I feel blessed to have great relationships with all our family members: the four that we raised, the four that married them, and our baker’s dozen of beautiful grandchildren.

Together we spent three years developing our property before Jim and I moved here full time in 2010. Gradually it’s all coming together. We now have a small home, a large utility barn, a chicken coop, and a garden shed/greenhouse. Two Maremma sheepdogs and a small flock of laying hens live on the farm all year long.

We raise meat chickens in the summer and have plans to add beef cattle and pigs to the mix. The family has planted an orchard which promises future fruits and berries. We have a nice sized vegetable garden and preserve some of our bounty by canning, freezing, and dehydrating. It’s a wonderful feeling to sit down to a meal that originated right here on the farm.

A family of adventurers, we like to try new and old methods of farming, gardening, and homemaking. Our parents and grandparents set examples for us, and we desire to live close to the land and be good stewards of it as well. Now we’re seeing another generation follow suit as even our young grandchildren jump right in and help with animals and gardens.

Our projects reveal the engineer here, the administrator there, and creativity in many forms. The complementary interests and skills of all eight adults result in a myriad of ideas. We win some and lose some, with our share of projects that worked better in our heads than in real life. But we also see many successes and have a lot of fun.

Though the farm chores and other activities keep us busy, I always make time for writing. With other family members I review kitchen equipment at The Homesteader Kitchen and share practical how-to’s at The Homesteader School. We also offer encouragement and tips for the urban-to-rural transition at Rural Living Today.

And now I’ll be writing here at Grit about our journey along the rural roads of life. It’s truly an adventure, and I look forward to sharing it with you! 

It's getting cold here.  The ground is rock solid frozen and we've gone full into 'winter mode'.  Now that we've got livestock (chickens), it adds a whole new dimension to preparing our rural property to keep everyone (and everything) safe and secure through the chilly months.  But it's not just in the winter when things can go wrong.

When you live on a rural property, there are a lot of situations that can put you and your family at risk of injury - or even death.  A pretty dark topic, I know.  But it's my mission to provide information that will really make a positive difference as you make the transition to a rural lifestyle, and sometimes the discussion gets downright serious.  It has to to keep everyone safe.

All that said, most dangerous situations on your journey to the rural life can be avoided, or at least mitigated, by choosing the 'right' property to purchase or rent in the first place.  Here are five things to seriously consider, and questions to ask and analyze, before you purchase a property down by that gorgeous river, or decide on a rental home in the mountains:

Emergency Services

1. Do you have a medical condition that requires regular care?  Obviously if this is the case you'll need to have medical facilities close by.  In the event of any sort of major widespread emergency, it's pretty much guaranteed that larger centers would be priority for getting back up and running quickly.  As it is, many rural health facilities are sort of hanging by a thread, or find it difficult to staff their emergency medical teams adequately.   I know in parts of our province, small communities are lucky if they can find enough experienced paramedics to staff their ambulance crews - and at that many of them are on call and take time to get to the station, then out to your call.  Something to keep in mind if it's at all likely you may need to call on emergency medical services for a pre-existing condition.
2. How far away is a trauma center or emergency room? If your new home is way out in the sticks and it takes an hour to get there from anywhere, your life may be on the line in an emergency.  Living that far away from medical facilities requires you to:  a) be extremely careful; and b) learn emergency first aid so you can increase your or your family member's chance of survival.
3. How long would it take an ambulance take to get to your house?  You can find this out by calling your local health authority - they should be able to give you a rough estimate.
4. Are local doctors taking new patients?  In our community, most of the regular doctors haven't been taking new patients for years.  Not having a consistent healthcare provider means that your doctor doesn't know you at all and can't tell whether or not you're looking 'well' or not compared to 'normal'.  Now, that's not saying having a new doctor isn't valuable - I've heard many stories of people with serious medical conditions that weren't diagnosed until they somehow ended up with a new doctor who immediately saw the problem and began treatment.  But if you can manage to find a regular, client-focussed doctor, hang on to them!
5. How far away is the closest emergency clinic?  Same as noted above, having a clinic reasonably close means you have at least somewhere to go should you get a deep gash while installing your fencing.

The first time you whack your leg with the firewood axe or the chickens scratch the dickens out of your arms, you’ll want to know that medical help is close by.

Weather and Road Maintenance

1. Is the road servicing your property maintained by local government, private contractor or the landowners themselves?  The answer to this question will (usually) dictate how well your roads are maintained.  Of course, with many jurisdictions facing tough economic times, road maintenance budgets have been reduced, so you'll want to know that before making the move.
2. What is the official priority for road clearing in winter or after storms?  You’ll want to know this.  Our road is fairly remote and not a critical route, but it does lead to two rather large employers here, so I think they make sure things are cleared fairly quickly.  But if we’d lived here two winters ago, we’d have been locked in the snow for days, as the road was pretty low on the clearing priority list.  We could walk up to the highway and have someone collect us from there, but I drive a tiny little car, which of course, isn't so smart for the snow.  Why not just buy a truck?  First fuel prices, and second, I’m not willing to impact the environment by driving a truck full time.  So I keep my fingers crossed – and have good snow tires... plus we have access to a truck should we really need it.
3. What is the schedule for maintenance on the roads leading to your property?  If the road to your new or dream property is in rough shape, find out what the schedule is for repair.  Rough roads will increase the wear and tear on your vehicle, will be hazardous in extreme weather, and will increase the time any trips to town will take (not to mention emergency vehicle access).

Electrical Outages

1. How often does the power go out in the area?  Call your local power company and get the stats on outages.  This may or may not be an issue for you, depending on your set-up for dealing with it, but if you plan on working from your homestead with an internet access, or your well pump runs on electricity, you'll need to know this and plan accordingly.
2. How long does it take to get back running, on average? 
3. Is your new property on a priority trunk?  Our property is on a long, strung-out trunk that is prone to outages due to the number of trees overhanging the lines.  I didn't realize this when we moved here, but it's definitely been an issue considering my business requires electrical power to run.  It means I have to go 'out' to work, which is fine, but can have its own challenges.

You can have all sorts of back-up electrical systems in place, but continual power outages are hard on your electronics, your pocketbook and depending on your set-up, potentially your health and safety.  Now, if you plan to set up completely off-grid electrical systems, you can obviously ignore this one!  But you’ll still need to know how to fix and maintain your systems, or at least who to call should you need help.

Natural or Industrial Hazards

1. Does your desired property sit on a floodplain (near a river)?  At the bottom of a hill?   As our weather becomes more erratic, with heavier rain and snowfall, we've seen more flooding, often with catastrophic effects.  Something to keep in  mind as you're scouting properties.  No one needs that sort of stress in their lives.
2. Near a factory or mill?  Check out the area around your property thoroughly.  Note any industrial facilities and find out what they do there, what kind of chemicals and substances they use in their processes, and their emergency protocols.  We've got a dryland log sort, a log homebuilder, and another wood-based company down the road - none of which operate with any hazardous substances, meaning I have no concerns with their operations.  There is also a paper mill a few miles down the inlet that used to use chlorine in their manufacturing process, which during a major earthquake event could have been a serious issue depending on which way the winds were blowing.  They no longer use chlorine, but I have to admit I know very little about their operations.  I need to get on that!

All of these things will determine the potential for catastrophe.  And your insurance costs (or if insurance would even be available).  So often we hear of properties being wiped out by floods along rivers with an active flood history.  Don’t be one of those people, no matter how gorgeous the property might be.  The flood might only happen once every 100 years, but you don’t want to be there when it does.

Zoning, Planning & Services

1. Is there an official community plan in the area?  Visit the local municipal hall or county offices to find out what the plans are for the area around your potential property.  You don't want to buy a property and then find out a big industrial facility is planned next door in five years.  People do this all the time - they don't do their research, then bring out the protest signs when someone puts a business next door.  Don't be one of those people!
2. Are there plans for industrial or residential development nearby?  This may bother you, or it might not, depending on the nature of the business.  But definitely find out all the details so you can save yourself the stress of living next door to a business that drives you crazy.
3. If the property is serviced by the municipality, town or county, are there plans for upgrading water or sewer systems?  This will dictate your tax and utility rates for years to come, so it's critical to know what the plans are.  Our nearest big city regional district has to upgrade their entire water and sewer infrastructure in the next few years because they let it go without major upgrades for so long.  They've already spent hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, with much more to come.   These services are not free, and they require maintenance
4. Is there garbage collection?  This will be a cost, for sure, but it will save you from having to haul any garbage you might have to the local landfill.  If there is no garbage collection, which is often the case in far-flung rural communities (particularly of big items) some people will dump their garbage in the bush - make sure one of these illegal dumps hasn't found its way to some obscure corner of your property, as you'll be footing the bill for clean-up.

Over and over we hear about city people moving to the country and then wanting it to either be just like the city (services), or they don’t want anything to ever change again, ever (development), or they don’t want to pay for changes already in the pipe.  Ask questions first and be comfortable with the answers you get.  Make sure you’re not one of those folk that rural people love to complain about.

The Wrap-up

So there you have it - five things to consider seriously before committing to a property purchase or rental.  I'm sure some of these things will be obvious to you, but maybe one or two are things you might not have thought of.  I know that I'll be asking a lot more questions should I purchase a rural property in the future.

Do you have any tips or stories to share about purchasing or renting a rural property?  Questions?  Please share them in the comments - there are countless people who can benefit from your wisdom! 

If there's one thing I hear over and over from readers who have a dream of rural living, is that it's their spouse, family or friends who are keeping them from their modern homesteading dream.

Let's face it – while the number of people desiring a rural lifestyle is growing, most of North American society thinks we're either dreamers and 'not being very practical', or we're flat out bonkers.  So if you have a burning desire to get out of the city or suburbs and into the wide open country and you've got loved ones raining on your parade, what do you do?  How do you convince them that you're onto something important?

I was fairly lucky when I announced my plan to return to the country and live in a little cabin in the woods.  Most of my friends either wished they could do the same, or were at least supportive.  My spouse, on the other hand (a born and bred city boy) had no interest in packing up and moving.  Truth be told, it was just one more difference that we weren't able to overcome, and the relationship was really long 'over' by that point (we've got a much better relationship now - go figure).  So no, I'm not a success story in that department, but if I had been in solid relationship, you bet your booty I'd have pulled out all the stops to convince him that moving to the country was a good idea.  I'd have done everything I could to prove to him that living a rural life would be better for our family and our relationship.

So at this point, all I can tell you is what we have gained and learned by pursuing our dream, and touching on what's going on in the world right now that makes rural living a very valid, and dare I say wise choice. 

Benefit #1 - Stress Levels Go WAY Down

There's something about all the background noise in the city that seems to keep us all jacked up, even if we don't know it.  At least it was that way with me.  Between the sirens and the noisy neighbours, sleep was something that eluded me more often than was healthy.  But here, I've stopped grinding my teeth at night and overall feel way less stressed, even though my workload has probably tripled.  There's  just something about waking up to birds and not screeching tires that soothes the soul. 

And with all the work required on a homestead, even a teensy tiny one, we're in better shape, even without going to the gym.  With all the wood chopping and piling, mowing, gardening, building and other chores necessary to keep a modern homestead functioning, our muscles never lack for things to do.  While I'm hardly an example of fitness any more because I spend so much time in front of the computer for my business (and researching homesteading skills and topics!), I know that I'm much healthier now than I was then - even when I was running 3 miles a day and biking to work.

Less stress means we're happier overall... and healthier.  Now there's a selling feature!

Benefit #2 - We're Less Reliant on the Industrial Food System 

With all that's going on today - droughts, floods, climate shifts, crop failures, topsoil loss, civil unrest, GMOs, food recalls, pesticides, complete economic restructuring, loss of nutrients in conventionally grown crops, and everything else we see in the news - it only makes sense to try to wean ourselves away from the industrial food system as much as possible.  Many 'in the know' are saying that we may see basic food prices double - or more - over the coming year. 

So, the more food we can grow, raise or glean ourselves, or buy from local growers and producers, the better off our families will be:  our food sources will be more secure and less reliant on transportation and big agriculture, and unless we're using raw sewage or something on our veggies, it will be safer because you'll know what's gone into and onto it. 

While it's possible to grow vast amounts of fruits, vegetables and poultry on a suburban property, it's pretty clear that it's a tad easier to be self sufficient when we've got more space.

Benefit #3 - We'll Avoid Much of the Craziness
the Next Few Years May Bring

As the economy continues it's dramatic shift and families and individuals are affected in so many ways, we're seeing a lot of fear rising up.  And what happens when people get fearful?  They do crazy things.

I remember a few years ago in Vancouver when we had heavy, heavy rains and a landslide washed into the mountain water supply.  It was muddy from the tap, and there was a region-wide boil water advisory affecting about 2 million people - most particularly, the advisory was directed at those with compromised immune systems.  Well, you'd have thought someone had dropped 12 tonnes of raw sewage into the lake - the line-ups for bottled water began almost immediately, and there were actual fist-fights among store customers as the supplies dwindled.  This when all we had to do was boil our drinking water (we just filtered ours with a bio-filter and suffered no ill effects)

If a simple boiled water advisory creates that kind of panic, I honestly have no interest in seeing what will happen should we be faced with an actual disaster in an urban area.  For some reason, rural towns seem to fare much better with these sorts of situations, as their residents are pretty much used to things like power outages, muddy water and the inconveniences that come with living away from big city centers.  You learn to make do and not whine and complain.  Well, most of the time, anyway...

So as the economy continues its shift and food prices rise as a result of drought, floods and everything else affecting big agriculture this year, I think we'll sadly see more and more people doing more and more desperate things.  For those who live in a community that's working on becoming more food secure (city or country, doesn't matter - there's good people doing great work everywhere), they'll be far more comfortable, and less stressed, than those who ignore all the warning signs and just take their chances that 'the government will look after them'.  

The bottom line is this - without prepping in some way, whether it be just getting a few weeks to a few months of food put away either by purchasing freeze dried meals or learning how to can and dehydrate food, we'll all be paying more for food a year from now (likely a lot more). Now what's that going to do for our stress levels?

Benefit #4 - Our Children Are More In Touch With the Natural World

My little guy has been a nature nut since before he could walk.  I remember watching him in the courtyard of our townhouse, where the only wildlife to be found were pillbugs and the odd ant.  I also remember thinking how sad it would be for a child this in love with nature to grow up surrounded by concrete and steel.  It was one of the big reasons I wanted to move to the country, and I'm so glad we did.  Seeing him now, surrounded by all sorts of critters (and now our chickens) and revelling in everything the natural world has to offer, I know I made the right decision.

Even his school is surrounded by trees and water, and is right across the street from the beach.  There's a creek running through the property, and they regularly see eagles and hawks, vultures and bears, right on the school grounds (you might not think bears at school is a good idea, but everyone is safe... ;o)  What a way to grow up!  I had a bit of that when I was little, but we lived in a subdivision (albeit a small town subdivision) and our school was the typical flat building surrounded by gravel and playing fields.  Not a creek in sight... 

Now, not all children are nature nuts, obviously, but spending time outdoors is good for everyone.  Getting in touch with the cycles of life, getting dirty and wet, understanding what it's like to be cold and feeling the sun on your face, exploring the edges of your capabilities - that's what childhood should be about, and it's so much more accessible in a rural community.  And for their self-esteem, sense of adventure and imagination?  There's nothing like it.

Of course, small towns have their drawbacks as well - but in our community, at least, we've got access to brilliant music teachers, fabulous teachers and a tonne of activities... even some we wouldn't find in the city.  And not to mention that with all the hard work involved in keeping a homestead running, they'll keep their bodies limber and their minds active.  It's pretty hard to be bored and get in trouble when there's just so much stuff to do!    

Benefit #5 -  We're Part of a Community

It's pretty much impossible to 'do' this homesteading thing without connecting with others in a big way.  And while it's easy to be anonymous in the city, it's not quite so in the country.  Sure, you could go hide away in the bush and never see anyone (personally, I'm quite happy hanging out at home), but I've had enough experience now to know that I can't do this thing alone.  Nor would I want to, not that I've met all the wonderful people that seem to surround us.  

Asking for help, by its very nature, builds community.  And that's a very good thing should we face the kind of food price increases and job losses that are looking likely - we're going to need each other like we haven't in decades.  Thing is, most small communities have never forgotten what it's like to be dependent on neighbours - especially those that have lived through a natural disaster or other calamity.  It's only those of us from the city who find it easy to disconnect from everyone around us and just do our own thing - until we realize that that's just dumb (speaking for myself, of course!).

I'll tell you, there's just something really comforting about knowing that other people have got your back. 

The Wrap-up

If you're facing doubters in your own life, hopefully this has been helpful.  Whether they think you've gone completely off the rail or just can't imagine why you'd want to leave the comfort of the city for an uncertain future on a homestead, maybe this will provide a bit of food for thought to pass along.  It goes without saying that this life is not for the faint of heart, and there are many times I wonder what the heck I'm doing here. But at the end of the day, I rest well knowing I've made the best choice for my family.  Of course, there are other serious questions that need to be considered, and lots more to discuss on this topic, but if it's your dream, I say go for it!  Life is supposed to be an adventure, right?  

I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's article. If you've got experience with moving your family to the country, or have any stats or great reasons to make the move that you'd be willing to share, we'd love to hear from you in the comments below!  We're all learning from each other, and the more we put out there, the more we get back... ;)  

I’m a lucky duck.  When I decided it was time to pack up city life and settle onto a rural property, I had land to come to – a homestead site purchased by my family probably 15 years prior.

But what if you don’t have that plot to escape to and the economy has taken the wind out of your property purchasing sails?  Here are a few ideas to ponder that just might get you from city lot to rural acreage faster than you think:

Group Purchase

I considered this for years before we actually moved, as the property we’re currently on isn’t exactly my ‘dream’ land (though it’s getting closer as time passes).  Do you have friends with a similar dream of rural bliss?  Maybe relatives looking to invest in rural real estate?  Or maybe look into the rural land co-ops that are forming all over (though co-ops are not for everyone).  Start by making a list of everyone you know who might be interested in such an arrangement, then figure out what you would want out of the deal and what you could offer your ‘investors’, and go for it!

For us, group purchase wasn’t the right solution, but for you it just might be ideal.

Renting

I would recommend this for anyone – rent a home in the town you’ve chosen to settle into before you actually buy.  And not just for a couple of months, but for six months to a year.  There’s nothing like having your romantic visions of rural life shattered by neighbours engaging in illegal activity or finding out your well water is contaminated with arsenic.  Bottom line?  There are things about a community you simply can’t learn by visiting on weekends or even talking to the locals.  When we arrived in the town we currently live in, I’d been gone for 22 years and really hadn’t a clue how things ‘worked’.  And honestly, I couldn’t imagine what we’d do with ourselves to keep busy.

Now, two and a half years later, I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but I’m still discovering the depths and breadth of the community.  I haven’t even begun to tap into it, really.  But I’ve heard of many others who bought homes here, then discovered after a year or two that rural living just wasn’t for them.  Unfortunately, at that point they were stuck with houses they couldn’t sell and had to stay in a town they weren’t happy with until the real estate market turned around.  In other words, lots of stress that could have been avoided by taking time to figure out if it really was the ‘right place’ for them before making the financial investment.  If they’d rented, they could have just packed up and left.

Property Caretaking

This is a world I knew absolutely nothing about until I ran into a gentleman in a coffee shop one morning and started chatting.  Turns out there’s a whole group of men and women (often couples) who live in amazing locales, looking after the stunning vacation homes of the very wealthy.  Apparently many of these folks only visit their properties a couple of times per year, so the caretakers are essentially left with an amazing property all to themselves much of the year.  Of course, there are certain skills required, from carpentry and landscaping to business management and security, but for the right people, it’s an ideal way to have both your expenses covered AND learn about your potential new community.  You can find out more about caretaking here:  Top 10 Websites to Find a Property Caretaking Job 

Settling Recreational Property

Maybe you have friends or family with recreational property sitting unused?  Ponder coming up with some sort of agreement with them for you to put up a temporary structure (yurt, kit home on a platform, etc. – something you could move to a new property later, or sell them when you leave in exchange for rent) for a specific period of time, with options to extend your stay if everything works out.  There’s countless acres of land and untold numbers of buildings sitting unused most of the year throughout North America, I can’t believe more people don’t do this.  Of course you need to find owners open enough for such an arrangement, but it could easily work out well for everyone – you get to live in the country, and they have someone keeping an eye on things.

The Wrap-up

Of course, there are tax and legal implications for all of the above scenarios, but none of them are insurmountable.  The idea is to get creative with your thinking – there’s always, always a way to live the life you want!  Maybe not as easy as purchasing your own property, but in some cases, you may be better off ‘testing the waters’ first.  Then you’ll know you made the right decision and can settle into your new life with the knowledge that you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Then again, no matter how much preparation you do, it’s always an adventure.  But your dream life is within grasp – you just need to get out there and grab it.

Do you have any other ideas for getting onto a rural property without a big investment?  If so, please share them in the comments below! 

I am fascinated by folklore. There’s European folklore, Medieval folklore, American folklore, Native American folklore … the list goes on and on, and I find it all very interesting. Plant lore is a personal favorite of mine. And then there’s word-lore.

Origins of words and phrases intrigue me. Have you ever wondered where some of the things we say almost on a daily basis came from? I thought it’d be kind of neat to get to the bottom of some the words, phrases, and colloquialisms that have a GRITty spirit to them.  

Take the word “farm,” for example. Do you know that it was the “farmer” who once did the tax collecting instead of government collecting taxes from the farmer? How’s that for role-reversal? Doesn’t it make you sometimes wish for the days of old? It’s not as good as it sounds, though. “Farm” comes to us through the French word ferme, which is derived from the Latin firmus, meaning fixed or settled. When the term was first used in France and England it referred to the fixed annual rent, tax or revenue payable by people, towns or counties to an overlord. The “farmer” was the person who collected those payments.  

Until Revolutionary times, the French general farmers, or the fermes generale, collected annual taxes (called farms), paid by individuals and towns to the royal treasury. Farmers, always an ingenious breed, kept a little aside for themselves to save for a rainy day. Rain must have been predicted often in France back in those days, because the farmers became excessively wealthy pocketing the difference between the amounts collected and the amount that was actually due.  

In England, land used for agricultural purposes was most often leased by a tenant who worked the land. A “farm” was the fixed annual rent paid by the tenant on that leased land. It was not until the 16^th century that the word “farm” referred to the land itself, and not the taxes paid upon it.

Whether you were a land tenant in England back then, or a farmer in the sense of the word as we use it today, you’d want to avoid buying the farm. “To buy the farm,” nearly everyone knows, means to die. But when and why did we start associating purchasing a farm with death?

The phrase started appearing in print during the 1950s. The origin of the euphemism has three possibilities, all pertaining to the U.S. military. An edition of American Speech from 1955 suggests that a farmer may sue the government for compensation if a jet were to crash on his property. If the amount of that compensation was enough to pay off the farm’s mortgage, in essence, the pilot “bought the farm.”

While off at war, it was the dream of many U.S. servicemen to return home, start a family and settle to a peaceful life on the farm. The second theory took this dream into account when in the unfortunate event that the serviceman was killed overseas. It was said “he bought the farm early.”

The third way a serviceman might have bought the farm is by his family using the military service personnel insurance to pay off the mortgage, if the soldier was killed in action.

Ok, so you’ve bought the farm – literally, and not figuratively speaking. Chances are, on that farm, you’ll find a barn. E-i-e-i-o. “Barns” originally referred to buildings used for storing barley. The word is derived from combining two words in Old English: bere, meaning barley, and ern, meaning house.

My mother, probably out of her mind from the pain of childbirth and obviously using a self-preservation form of selective memory, must have forgotten where her children were born. She constantly needed reminding. “Were you born in a barn?” Typically following her question as to our place of birth, she needed another reminder as to who was paying the utility bills. “Do you think I’m heating the outside?”

Though it is often used interchangeably with “were you raised in a pig-sty” (there were times Mom apparently forgot where we were brought up too). The rhetorical question, “Were you born in a barn?” means the door to the outside has been left open.

A realistic assumption would be the phrase originated from the practice that the barn door was left open when the cows were let out to pasture, and closed when they returned in the evenings.

But there is a theory that the phrase originally was “Were you born in Bardney?” The Tupholme Abbey is a monastery built in Bardney in Lincolnshire, England. Legend says that when Saint Oswald was killed, his bones were delivered to the abbey, but the gates were kept closed, barring entrance. A light shining down from above during the night fell on the bones, illuminating them outside the locked gates – it was a sign to the monks inside the gated abbey that indeed, this truly was a saint. The gates were quickly opened to allow Saint Oswald’s remains to enter. From that point on, the gates of Tupholme Abbey stayed open. This gave rise to the phrase, “Do you come from Bardney,” which meant that a door was left open. Later, Bardney was shortened to “barn.”  

It doesn’t matter if you’re a monk in an abbey, or heating the outside for the general purpose of annoying your mother, you most definitely do not want to be caught with your barn door open. Do monks have zippers? This polite euphemism is used commonly in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom for pointing out that one’s zipper on the front of the pants is undone.  Its origins are best left to the imagination.

And there you have it – the nitty-gritty of farm life, death, high utility bills, and fashion faux pas, all in a nut shell. In a nut shell? I wonder where that phrase came from? I may have to do another “Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty” installment here in the future. If you have a word or phrase you’d like to know the meaning of, leave me a suggestion, and I’ll see what I can dig up.  

Oh … the barn pictures I took with my cheap little point-n-click camera. To see some absolutely gorgeous barn photos, check out The Spirit of The American Barn by Bill Thomas in the current issue of GRIT.  Simply beautiful!

Sources: Dictionary of Word Origins, 2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings & Expressions, and The Phrases Finder (www.phrases.org.uk ).