Our Quest to Create a Sustainable Farm

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This Kansas farm’s grass-fed sheep and barn-mounted solar panels harvest solar energy to produce healthy meat and electricity.
This Kansas farm’s grass-fed sheep and barn-mounted solar panels harvest solar energy to produce healthy meat and electricity.
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Controlled pasture burning restores nutrients and maintains plant health for optimal grazing.
Controlled pasture burning restores nutrients and maintains plant health for optimal grazing.
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Frisky kids frolic in freshly set-out hay on a winter day.
Frisky kids frolic in freshly set-out hay on a winter day.
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The author’s solar-thermal system taps the sun’s rays to heat the home’s water.
The author’s solar-thermal system taps the sun’s rays to heat the home’s water.
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Welch’s Chevy Volt requires minimal maintenance and gasoline.
Welch’s Chevy Volt requires minimal maintenance and gasoline.
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Barn-mounted solar panels and grass-fed sheep both harvest energy provided by the sun.
Barn-mounted solar panels and grass-fed sheep both harvest energy provided by the sun.

When my wife and I were in our early 20s, cash-strapped with our first baby in diapers, someone told me that the secret to financial security was to make a budget and live by it. So I made a budget.

My budget showed that we would have $11 per month in disposable income, if no one went to the doctor and neither of our decrepit cars ever needed repair. As if. It didn’t present a path to financial security. It did, however, demonstrate the value of a vegetable garden. By starting to grow most of our own food, we saved a few hundred dollars — and that summer, a few hundred dollars made a lot of difference. More importantly, our family established a collective vision, gestated in that garden, of efficient self-reliance.

We visualized a goal we’ve been working toward ever since.

Positivity Puzzle

These days, we’re no longer so focused on stretching grocery money. Instead, we’re fascinated by the idea that we can produce food efficiently — for us and a bunch of other people — and that our lifestyle can have a positive net impact on the global environment.

  • Published on Sep 10, 2015
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