Winter was coming to another end and we found another pressure on us to find a farm. Our neighbor wanted to sell his place, the land the cows were on, in the summer/fall of 2017. We knew something big was going to happen one way or the other.
We had no idea what was coming down the road next...
Matthew told me one day that he was ready to look anywhere for a farm. And by anywhere he meant in the United States! Whoa. What? He said he was open to where ever God wanted us to go, and would be happy there. I was shocked, but glad. He asked me if I felt the same way. I said yes. Time was running out.
So that changed the whole look and perspective for me looking for farms. We actually looked at places down in the Virgina, Tennessee, Ohio area. Some things we did learn was that you have to live near an already Organic Valley Dairy farm in order to secure a pick up. Good to know. We also learned that the milk market was in the tank. Pardon the pun there. Another stress. Also we stopped any further looking in other states when we learned that we would for sure loose our spot on the OV truck if we moved down there. They had a different set up and with the market being bad, they wouldn't take us on. So it was Maine, or we sell everything and do something different with our lives...that was something else thrown into the mix...
We knew OV wasn't taking on any new members due to this fact, and we were wondering if we would make the cut. It had already been 2 years. But whatever came down the road we were ready for it. Praying we could still keep our spot on the OV truck that was waiting for us. And a business is not looking for dreams. They were looking for milk, and we didn't have any.
Let me rabbit trail for a minute...Yes our cows were at Simon's. Yes he is an OV producer. Yes he was milking our cows. So we sorta did have our cows on the truck, and were producers, and yet at the same time not. Because our cows were not at our farm that we didn't have yet! I know it's confusing and I'm trying to keep you straight. But how do you fit 2 years of your life into a few posts? It's hard. With that in mind we were on a high wire, and clinging to that fact every time OV called us. They continued to work with us.
We had looked at places, ruled certain areas out due to no other farms in that area. Then I looked into a farm that had been for sale for the whole time we had been looking. I had liked the price, the amount of land and the house. The one thing for me was the location. The County,(that is what Mainers call it up there) Yup. Now if you don't know what that is, it's way up north. Up near Canada. Called Aroostook County. Nothing wrong with it, but it's well over 3 hours from where we were. So begrudgingly, almost unwillingly I showed Matthew. We talked about it. As you may have guessed on our walks in the evening now that it was spring and could enjoy a walk. So many pros and about the same amount of cons. We prayed about it. We called our Realtor. She referred us to a different realtor in the county to show us. She wouldn't go up there! LOL. We called the realtor. We drove to see the place, with the kiddos, and Matthews parents...
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