Welcome to Arrow Three Acres
Our dream started two years ago. My husband, Nick, and I were living in a tiny house on wheels, that we had built ourselves and lived in together, with our Standard Poodle, Walden for three years. Nick left one afternoon to refill our propane tank, which we used to power our hot water heater, and called shortly after leaving to say that he found a house for sale, and we simply had to buy it.
This was mid-pandemic, home-sale-craziness, and we had just decided to wait a while longer before beginning our search for a new home - one with a foundation, and more than 300 square feet, for starters. But, he promised he had found the perfect opportunity, and off I went. Ten minutes later, I rolled down the driveway of a tiny little home on a very messy lot, right along a busy county highway. This was the deal of a lifetime, Nick promised, and after a bit of convincing (and panic once I realized the home was, without a doubt, a “fixer-upper”) we put in our offer, which was accepted on the spot.
Within a few short weeks, we were new owners of “less than three acres”, a house just three times the size of our tiny house, and a lifetime of projects. We immediately put in a little garden, late in the season and dreamed of what the future might hold for the land. That year, we harvested nothing but zucchini. Lots and lots of zucchini.
The following spring, we were given the opportunity to purchase the adjacent lot, and the dream of Arrow Three Acres really came to fruition. We purchased a tractor, tilled up half an acre and got our seeds started. It was a crash-course in large-scale gardening led by my fearless husband. We worked weekends and evenings and fit in garden work as we had time. We pruned and watered and harvested and learned. We processed and froze and ate. We laughed and fought and worked harder than I thought possible. We sold our produce at a small farm stand on our driveway, and begged everyone we knew to take zucchini - it seemed as though we were harvesting it by the ton. It was exhausting but so enjoyable.
At the end of the season, we welcomed our first child, and ultimately decided that I would stay home with little E, and focus on being a mother while also taking two weekdays a week to focus on our garden and farmstand.
I’m coming into this season, after ten years of working an office job, with only the knowledge I gained last season (read: not much, but I can drive our tractor [slowly, avoiding large hills and heavy lifting], plant strawberry plants by the hundreds and pick a mean basket of green beans), and the lessons learned from mistakes and decisions made last season. Join me as I embark on this new adventure and work my way through the season, sharing with you lessons as I learn them.
