The Acreage

Alright, so we've got the acreage. The journey has begun. The logical place to start seems to be with what is already there. The property was surveyed during the sale, so the boundaries are clearly marked. Pink flagging marks an old fence line along the West property line. The property line to the North is clearly marked, mainly by the back yards of the 4 or 5 houses lining the "main road" to our North. They each have smaller 1 or 2 acre parcels. Also, the Northwest corner of the property shares a border with Oconee National Forest, a part of the Chattahoochee National Forest. We have one neighbor to the East, with about 5 acres. Our neighbor to the West has a nice sized parcel, possibly several combined, adding up to what we've been told by another neighbor is 28 acres, including his own private pond. Overall, aside from the 4 or 5 smaller properties on the outside of our subdivision, most parcels are between 5 and 10 acres.

The area is in a river valley on the Piedmont of Georgia. Fairly flat, but being near the river drainage is adequate despite the mostly clay soil, and generally water from the region runs down to the river to our West. Our properties drainage, however, runs to the East. The highest point of our parcel is on the Western edge of our property, with a gradual slope to the East, which drops more suddenly just beyond our property line, feeding the water in our more local area into our neighbors farm pond. Luckily for him we plan on maintaining a chemical free, organic farm. Aside from some work needed on the Georgia red clay driveway which runs North/South, entering from the South, drainage shouldn't be a problem.

While walking the property learning where the lines are and seeing what we've got I've found some pretty promising clearings and plantings. There are two clearings on the North side of the property, which at one point were planted with Millet or some other grain in order to draw in deer. The clearing to the Northeast is the most promising. It sits down in a slight little hollow, but contains at least 8 muscadine vines! Although I'm sure they were once loved and beautifully trellised they need some serious TLC. I'll show you some before and afters of that project, it should be one of the first during our rehab stages of the property. Also found on the property are some amazingly well established rose bushes that have run wild, climbing the pines. That will be a big project too, but having them already established will be a big help in getting the front of the property, on the Southern side, looking presentable while we begin our slow and steady fight to organize some order out of the chaos.

Welcome!

Welcome to Gohn Greene Farms! My name is Kyle and I'm here to share my story, the story of my family. My fiance Meredithe, our two daughters Amelia and Carley, and our family dog Butterbean are beginning a new chapter in our lives. We have recently purchased 7.32 acres of A1 zoned farmland in Greene County, GA. This blog will serve as a public record of our progress from this point forward, shaping the land in harmony with nature. Getting married on the land. Building a modest and sustainable home in which to raise our children. Organically raising annuals, perennials, and one day chickens and goats. Teaching our children that the lifestyle currently maintained by most Americans is unsustainable. That the status quo is not the only way to live, and we must find a better way. Not only for ourselves, but for our planet.

I am confident that it will be a happy story, one that you will enjoy reading as our farm begins to take shape. It was not always a happy story, my fiance and I were once struggling with alcoholism and on the brink of disaster. Just over three years ago we decided that something needed to change. Our lives were not what we wanted. We had dreams and ambitions just like everyone else, but we weren't realizing our potential. We quit drinking, and at first, this was the only goal. Not drinking took our combined willpower, was a difficult struggle, and a story all its own. One worth telling. But I'd rather not dwell on the past. Our future is much more interesting.

Our goals at first were simple, get dried out and make something of ourselves. Once we were dry, we needed a plan. What did we want for ourselves? For our planet? For the children?

We saw the world around us, the direction it was/is headed and want something that most would call out of the ordinary. The current mainstream American culture is simply not sustainable. We cannot possibly believe that our current rates of consumption are capable of lasting forever. We want to grow our own food, use as few non-renewable resources as possible. Upcycle and recycle everything and anything. We want to be pioneers, but not in the traditional sense, taking over new lands, destroying the native plants, animals and peoples in our wake. We want to be pioneers striking out in a new direction. One that helps the planet, not harms it.

Gohn Greene Farms is, for us, a next step in our new way of living. It is a step that is not taken lightly, or without considerable forethought. We have been planning and saving and preparing for three long years to reach this point. Three years of careful budgeting with our ultimate goal in mind. Pay down our debts, save up capital, use the system that is currently in place to get out. To use the system that can and will eventually fail, to prepare ourselves for a sustainable path forward in an ever changing and unpredictable world.

The first three years were difficult, mainly because we didn't have anything to point to and say: Look! Progress! Step one complete! It was long and slow and seemingly never ending. Step One: Save money, buy a farm.

Well, here we are three years later and step one is complete. We purchased our 7.32 acres. Gohn Greene Farms exists not only in our dreams, but in our reality. We have a place that one day we will call home. Our plan is to take this land and make it our homestead. We are going to work with what nature has provided, carefully shaping our little piece of paradise. Hopefully teaching our children valuable skills that they can then carry forward through future generations. Making the world a cleaner, greener, happier place.

We want to clean up and restore what is already living and growing on the land. We want to plant a beautiful garden of our own. We want to get married in that garden. We want to build our dream house. We want to create a food forest, in keeping with the principles of permaculture. We want to plant an organic annual vegetable garden. We want chickens and goats. We want to shape this little piece of the world as an example. It is possible to stop being a consumer. It is possible to see the world from a different perspective. A perspective that sees the Earth as she is, hurting from our destructive ways, but not lost, not forgotten. We want to show people that there is a sustainable way to live. That by dreaming big and working hard we can be the change we wish to see in the world. Follow us, there is a bright future for all of us out there, waiting for us to choose it for our reality.