OUR STORY

When we purchased this property at the end of 2012, I think we really had no idea the amount of work we were taking on. Our oldest daughter Maggie was 13, our younger daughter Gracie was 9 and our little boy Charlie was about 18 months old.

We borrowed my parents motor home and all five of us lived in there for nearly a year. We quickly learned to cook our meals in a toaster oven, take 3 minute showers and to live without access to a lot of the luxuries we were used to. Although there were plenty of challenges, we sure had a great time!

The house on the property was essentially uninhabitable and within a few weeks of the close of escrow, we tore the whole thing down. We spent weeks hauling off junk like old couches, garbage and debris.

During the summer, the girls slept outside in tents and Charlie slept on a hamper next to our bed inside the RV. We had plenty of campfires, listened to howling coyotes and enjoyed the beginning of our new farm life.

Once the inside of the house was essentially complete, we moved our focus outside. We decided to grow flowers with the idea that even if we never sold a single one, at least we would create a beautiful view from our patio.

Each year we have discovered new challenges and found new success as well. Gophers ate about 60% of last years dahlia crop, so we changed our growing methods and now our dahlias inhabit large agricultural totes.

Someday we will have a beautiful front porch, a garage and perhaps a yard that doesn’t resemble a petting zoo, but for now, we will just keep growing as many flowers as we can and enjoying this fun place we call home.