Welcome to the Farm - Virtual Tour

Today I have the pleasure of bringing you our guest post for the month of July contributed by none other than my wonderful husband Caleb. This blog post was his idea and he shot all of the photos and videos you'll see.

Caleb is a carpenter by trade. He enjoys farming, hunting, and working with his hands. Caleb is a deep thinker and likes a good challenge. He's got a wonderful laugh and he'll never turn down a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Caleb isn't a writer, so his blog post was dictated to me (Abby).

A Little Farm History

Several years ago, we had the opportunity to purchase the farm next to my family farm where I grew up. As Abby and I were fixing up our new farmhouse, we realized that the farm was much older than we originally thought.

The House

After living on the farm for about a year or so, an old man in a big cowboy hat stopped by in his pick-up truck and began to tell me the history of our farm. It turns out his family had lived there for several generations. The old man estimated that our house was built between 1850-1875 but it was not the original farmhouse. He told us that the original farmhouse from the 1700's sustained significant termite damage which made it unlivable, and it was eventually burned.

The Tobacco Barn

This barn was used to dry and store tobacco. It was built in 1918. If you look closely, you can see the vents that open to help dry tobacco. We currently use this building for storage.

The Bank Barn

My best guess is that this barn was built in the early 1800's. There was a later addition added to expand the barn. The top of the barn was used for hay and straw storage at various times throughout its life. There is also a granary where feed was stored for animals. The old man I met in my driveway told me there was a hit-and-miss engine that they used to power farm machinery and it was stored in the old bank barn. The bottom of the barn was used to house the animals. Mostly horses, but in later years it housed cattle.

The Cattle Barn

After the old man's family sold the farm, it passed through several other owners. The owners prior to us built an addition to the bank barn in the 1970's which we now call the cattle barn. Abby and I are currently working on cleaning out and renovating this area.

The Chicken Coop

What we call the "chicken coop" was actually a hog barn built in the early 1920's. This barn remained empty for many years until we converted it into a large chicken coop/run.

The Greenhouse

This was my 2020 "Covid project" for Abby. She had been wanting a greenhouse and I happened to end up with a lot of time on my hands. So, we now have a greenhouse that is right next to the garden.

We hope you've enjoyed the virtual farm tour! Leave us a comment with what you thought about today's post.

Thanks for reading,

Caleb & Abby