We’ve started putting sweat into our new land, working to transform it into home. We had our first work day, beginning to clean out and empty our barn, which was full of loose hay. We’ve started making a big pile out of the hay we can salvage for mulch, and taking rotten pallets and plastic to take to the dump. Mr. Bingley calmly surveyed the scene from a sunny spot in front of the barn.
As we’ve been getting ready to build our house, we’ve both been reading the book Mortgage Free by Rob Roy, which talks about strategies for building your home debt free. (Our goal is to build our house as we save without taking on any more debt.) In the book, Roy talks about “temporary shelter,” an inexpensive place to live while you’re building. We’re going to use this strategy to save money and help us build our house more quickly.
For our temporary shelter, we found a 1969 “Frolic” camper, approximately 80 square feet with a sink, stove top, and tiny water closet. It needs some TLC , but it otherwise is in excellent condition. For now, we backed the Frolic into the newly hay-free wing of the barn, which will soon become our front stoop.
Once the Frolic was in place, Rev. Lisa Fischbeck, the vicar of The Episcopal Church of the Advocate, helped to make the property home by leading a small land and home blessing ceremony with our family and a few friends. We prayed for guidance in how we use the gift of our land and the ability to extend the gift of hospitality in the future.
We plan on moving onto our land this Spring, and we have a lot to do before then. We have to get the land surveyed, drill a well, and do a little remodeling on our Frolic and repair some water damage. We’re going to build a farm office which will be a place to arrange flowers, do farm work, and act as a living room while we are building our home over the next few years. We’re excited about the process of growing our farm, building our house, and making our home in this beautiful place.
Spring Forth Farm of North Carolina 
I’m just relieved you’ll have a wind-break. Do you have an emergency radio? (Look who I’m asking!)