Meet the Tom’s.
Welcome to the Farm! Here we will be documenting our life as first-generation homesteaders and ranchers sharing our struggles, failures, and victories. We will also be blogging anything from farm to table, cooking from scratch, homeschooling, gardening, all things homemade, homesteading, health, to animals, and watching our roots grow! mostly conducting this blog and yes, I know I am late to the blogging world. To be fair I was big into blogging back in the day but nothing to this extent. It has always been my passion to write and share my life and all things I was passionate about.
First, I Stevilynn (pronounced Stevi Lynn), will be the one mostly conducting this blog and yes, I know I am late to the blogging world. To be fair I was big into blogging back in the day but nothing to this extent. It has always been my passion to write and share my life and all things I was passionate about.
My husband, Bryan, and I moved into a humble homestead on four acres with our son Liam, and our two dogs a year ago. Before this, we lived Downtown in a historic 1940’s Tudor that we loved. It was the perfect first home. I sometimes wish we could have picked that home up and relocate it out on some property. Even while living in the city we have always craved the country and homestead life. We spent years gardening, canning, making food from scratch and we even bought 13 chickens. Our homestead accidentally fell into our lap when we weren’t planning on even looking for our future homestead for a few more years. However, with the price, two barns, a stable, a shoot, two silos, and fruit trees we couldn’t pass it up.
Read more about our roots below.
Just A Couple Of City Kids
Bryan and I both grew up in the city. In my younger days, I spent a lot of time on my friend’s ranch. There is when it piqued my interest in country life. When Bryan and I met, we always discussed owning land and would love raising our family on a ranch and planting roots. It was a dream we always talked about and we wanted to make it a reality.
In 2020 my parents were looking to buy something close to us that a house kept popping up on their search. This house had acreage and my mom kept filtering it to not show acreage. I finally told her to let me look at it. The house looked like it was in good shape and had good bones but there weren’t a lot of pictures. I knew that in five years we were thinking about buying land but it doesn’t cost us to go look. So we went. We already owned 13 chickens in the downtown historic district of Idaho Falls. They were just to enjoy fresh eggs daily, with no intention to then buy land.
How We Got Our Ranch
The country house was 25 mins from our current home out in the country. We pulled in and Bryan and I just knew it had to be ours. We have no farming experience. Like I said when I was young my friend lived on a Ranch. I had helped clean stalls for race track horses, but nothing to the extent of raising animals on a farm. While looking we created this kind of happy farm life in our mind and knew it had to be ours. When we actually moved onto this property that wasn’t reality at all. There’s a lot of sacrifices since moving here to the ranch. We have no clue what we are doing. We’ll be the first to admit that, more failures than victories. Every day consists of constantly researching, talking to others to teach us, and we are learning every day.
In our mind, we thought a lot of people wouldn’t like any non experience city slickers moving in. However, people have been so friendly and see how eager and willing we are to learn. We have laying chickens, meat chickens, and a turkey right now. We are lucky that we aren’t stuck on the ranch 24/7 with animals. Although we still have been working very hard cleaning up the property and have loved planting some roots down. We are the third owners but the owners before us did not use this as a ranch. They used it as a trucking business to park his rigs.
Now What?
Well, we are trying to make it a working homestead again. People called us crazy moving out to the country. Some were envious and some said it’s not their lifestyle. My family has said if anyone could do it, it would be us. We know that once we bring more animals on, we will be working 24 hours 7 days a week. Even if mama cow goes into labor at 4 in the morning in the middle of winter, we will have to be there to help her.
It makes me thankful for the time we spent in 2019 traveling for 6 months. I know our traveling days are going to be very limited. Moving here on the ranch has made us question a lot. One that we never questioned was raising a family here. We in fact think is the best way to raise our child(ren)? Honestly, there is no doubt, hands down that this is the best thing for our child(ren).
We also started our second year of homeschool. Liam is now in first grade and that was an adjustment. However, it has been amazing. Liam has seen some incredible things out here that he would have never experienced living in the city. A lot of people even family have questioned our choices with homeschooling. With the way, the world is it wasn’t even a question. Homeschooling was something we talked about before we married. I am grateful that we have control and a say in what we teach. And when we should teach certain subjects.
Our Goal For The Ranch
My husband is not a full-time rancher but eventually we hope we will get to that point. He does work for home as a patent paralegal. He has been working from home for about 5 years. We have been very lucky to live wherever, thanks to his work.
The goal of moving here is to build a homestead and ranch together. We want to eventually be able to work together side by side every day. To learn, grow, and struggle together and teach each other as we plant our roots deeper and deeper here.
I will be the first to tell you that it is hard work and it is not for the faint of heart. I am an adventurer at heart. And as much as we loved to travel and explore, this right here is where we have always dreamt to be doing. Some have said the honeymoon stage will go away but it hasn’t. It has become more amazing and more wonderful every single day.
Follow watch our roots wildly grow here!
Stevilynn