A hard decision..

As some of you may, or may now know Annalisa and I have been leasing some land on her family’s farm for the last 5 years. We have been learning what it means to be good small farmers while building our market garden business and community. We have recently come to the realization that we will be out growing our space here in a short amount of time. The fact that we weren’t going to find our long term home here has been floating in the back of our minds for quite some time, though we haven’t allowed ourselves to fully acknowledge it. We have also known about the lead paint issues in our old farmhouse and not really known how to acknowledge them until our 11 month old daughters bloods tests came back with scarily high levels of lead in them.

We have decided to continue our work here for the next year while we look for a small farm of our own. Hoping to transition in the fall of 2014 as we wrap up next growing season.

We are putting this information out to our extended community with the hopes that you all will keep us in the back of your minds when you may hear about some special place that might be appropriate for us. This will be a farm to make our home. To continue and expand our growing, organically minded, horse powered market gardening operation. Somewhere in the range of 40-100 acres would be ideal. A small house and big barn. At least 10 acres tillable, 10 in hay/pasture, and 10+ acres of woodlot. Ideally more forested land to possibly continue our maple syrup production and ecologically minded woodlot management.

We would like more than anything to stay as local as possible to the family farm and the greater community that has so lovingly accepted us here in the seacoast of New Hampshire. Realistically though, we are very interested in exploring any option that may seem appropriate for us in the North east. NH and ME both feel like home to us.

This is a scary/exciting decision for us, but one that comes from our hearts. It will be a positive move for our family and one that we feel really good about. We firmly believe that listening to our hearts and that feeling in your gut that tells you the right thing to do, cannot be the wrong choice. That by putting faith in our hearts, our love, work ethic, community, friends and the magic that can follow these things, we will find our home. Thank you for hearing us out. All our best.
-Joel Annalisa and Ayla Wild Miller