Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Stepping Out.
From the outside, the Calks and the Fords appear to be your average close-knit family. However, when you begin to peel back the layers, you will find that we are a very diverse group of people blended together in a family unit, who share a passion for nature and an overall desire for pure happiness. Over the past several years, we have all set out after very different dreams and walked down very different paths. We each have experienced our fair share of happiness and heartache; job gains and job losses; new life and death; dreams come true and dreams shattered. But the one thing that remains, is that we are family through thick and thin and we want to see each other succeed. That is why we have decided to embark on this new adventure, taking our passion for nature, our love of gardening, and mold it into a family business.
Our decision to start a gardening business has been in the works for several years, but just like everything else, the timing just has to be right. When my parents sold their beautiful home in a golf course community in the heart of a Dallas suburb 12 years ago and purchased 17 acres just outside of town, they had big dreams for this untouched land. If you saw the land back then, compared to what it is now, you would think they were crazy. But that's the thing about us, when we have a vision, we can be very determined to make that vision a reality.
My maternal grandfather came from a farming family in rural Mississippi, and after retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, he enjoyed working in his garden most of the time. My mother inherited his passion for horticulture, and after completing construction on their home on the 17 acres, she started her own small garden (with my dad's engineering skills, of course). Low and behold, in 2008, I met and married a man who also loved to garden and brought quite a bit of farming knowledge to the table. Pretty soon, we had our hands in the dirt as well. Not being a "garden" person to start with, I have truly opened my eyes to the process. My sister, Sarah, has always carried a passion for animals, but her overall love of nature has definitely found it's place in our little operation. Year after year, our garden has grown to be bigger and more productive than the year before.
In early spring of this year, as we all juggled our hectic schedules and in spite of our stressful day jobs, we constructed and planted our garden. Evening after evening we would tend to our young plants' needs, and as conversation flowed, we found that working in the garden was very soothing for all of us, including my two young daughters. We all looked forward to walking the garden each evening. It became our happy place. One particular evening, as we were harvesting some luscious new vegetables and realizing that we had all worked together in this wonderful creation, we knew it was time we make this our way of life...or at least a start.
Our goal is to produce certified organically grown produce and farm fresh eggs to be distributed at local markets over the next year. In a time where our society is raising awareness to what goes in the food that we feed to our families, and when there is a very real need to support our local economies, we feel that this is a perfect time for us to step out in this new adventure.
Thank you for stopping by our blog and for the support. I hope you stick around and watch us grow!
Love,
The Calks and The Fords
Hoer Number 1: Rosemary Calk/Nana - Mother and Head Gardener
Hoer Number 2: Lindsay Ford - Daughter, Co-Gardener, and Blogger
Hoer Number 3: Sarah Calk - Daughter, Co-Gardener, and Photographer
Hoer Number 4: Bill Calk/Papa - Father, Engineering Dude, and whatever else Hoers 1,2, and 3 need him to do.
Hoer Number 5: Barry Ford - Son-in-law, Co-Engineering Dude, and whatever else Hoers 1,2, and 3 need him to do.
Hoers 6 & 7: Hailey and Hope Ford - Granddaughters, official diggers and tasters.
...and all the animals: 3 dogs, 3 cats, 14 chickens, a donkey, and whatever else comes along!
Our decision to start a gardening business has been in the works for several years, but just like everything else, the timing just has to be right. When my parents sold their beautiful home in a golf course community in the heart of a Dallas suburb 12 years ago and purchased 17 acres just outside of town, they had big dreams for this untouched land. If you saw the land back then, compared to what it is now, you would think they were crazy. But that's the thing about us, when we have a vision, we can be very determined to make that vision a reality.
My maternal grandfather came from a farming family in rural Mississippi, and after retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, he enjoyed working in his garden most of the time. My mother inherited his passion for horticulture, and after completing construction on their home on the 17 acres, she started her own small garden (with my dad's engineering skills, of course). Low and behold, in 2008, I met and married a man who also loved to garden and brought quite a bit of farming knowledge to the table. Pretty soon, we had our hands in the dirt as well. Not being a "garden" person to start with, I have truly opened my eyes to the process. My sister, Sarah, has always carried a passion for animals, but her overall love of nature has definitely found it's place in our little operation. Year after year, our garden has grown to be bigger and more productive than the year before.
In early spring of this year, as we all juggled our hectic schedules and in spite of our stressful day jobs, we constructed and planted our garden. Evening after evening we would tend to our young plants' needs, and as conversation flowed, we found that working in the garden was very soothing for all of us, including my two young daughters. We all looked forward to walking the garden each evening. It became our happy place. One particular evening, as we were harvesting some luscious new vegetables and realizing that we had all worked together in this wonderful creation, we knew it was time we make this our way of life...or at least a start.
Our goal is to produce certified organically grown produce and farm fresh eggs to be distributed at local markets over the next year. In a time where our society is raising awareness to what goes in the food that we feed to our families, and when there is a very real need to support our local economies, we feel that this is a perfect time for us to step out in this new adventure.
Thank you for stopping by our blog and for the support. I hope you stick around and watch us grow!
Love,
The Calks and The Fords
Hoer Number 1: Rosemary Calk/Nana - Mother and Head Gardener
Hoer Number 2: Lindsay Ford - Daughter, Co-Gardener, and Blogger
Hoer Number 3: Sarah Calk - Daughter, Co-Gardener, and Photographer
Hoer Number 4: Bill Calk/Papa - Father, Engineering Dude, and whatever else Hoers 1,2, and 3 need him to do.
Hoer Number 5: Barry Ford - Son-in-law, Co-Engineering Dude, and whatever else Hoers 1,2, and 3 need him to do.
Hoers 6 & 7: Hailey and Hope Ford - Granddaughters, official diggers and tasters.
...and all the animals: 3 dogs, 3 cats, 14 chickens, a donkey, and whatever else comes along!
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