Rural Entertainment: Visiting The Wells Organic Farm

Guess what Ya'll!? I got to go for an adventure about 5 miles down the road from my house to see the Wells Organic Farm in Big Sandy Mush. :) For me this is a huge deal because I have seizures and can't drive in a car hardly at all, and the road down Early's Mountain is one so windy they have those dreaded squiggly warning signs (like in Pee Wee's Big Adventure when he eventually drives off the cliff!) About 2 miles into it, I almost went back home because I thought I couldn't make the car ride (swooning nausea and approaching seizure)... in fact I wanted to be left on the side of the road to walk home. As fate would have it, I persevered and made it to my not so far away destination! (If I look a bit war-torn in the pics, it's because I went through my own personal battle field to get there.)
The Wells Organic Farm mainly does organic eggs and at one time did organic chicken, but the labor that went into producing organic chicken meat (slaughter, feed, etc...) did not come equal enough with the profit. The funny thing is I wanted to show ya'll all about their eggs and chickens, but once I arrived I sat on the ground, tied my water, knife and snacks into a bundle so I could explore the old buildings, barns and hills instead. (The look on my face is post car ride horror and figuring out whether the huge dog was going to eat me up.)
I had caught a ride with Bort there, who was helping Mr. Wells chop firewood for the winter - so while they chopped I went off to discover tiny bits of their world. A world that has been passed down for a few generations and more acres of inherited land then I could possibly fathom.
Behind Bort in the pic below is the giant chicken coop (looks to have once been a tobacco drying shed), some solar hot water contraption on the roof, and where they were splitting wood (with a self made splitting machine!).
I left to go across the road, crossing over a reallllly old bridge that was totally falling apart. I walked across the huge beams that held it up rather then the boards caving in.
There was another HUGE long tobacco shed on top the hill, holding hay and a mish mash of everything many generations of farmers can end up collecting and storing for 'future' projects and for projects that never quite worked out.
Once i walked past this building I walked towards a smaller house down a dirt road. The house intrigued me till I got close enough that a big black dog came out the door , with a man trailing behind it, staring at me with complete 'what the hell are you doing' body language. I kindly waved with a smile but that seemed to not change his expression, feelings or his dogs urge to take me by storm. I told him I was visiting the Wells Farm, and all the scary melted away... i turned around and looked for a better place to explore where i wouldn't disturb anyone. I found a quaint hill that must have been farmed because there were turnips growing randomly in the grass - I picked a turnip green off the plant and chewed on it for the next 30 minutes...it was mmmmm good. In fact, it was the best I ever tasted.
Half of the hill was covered in stinging nettles! I never saw such huge patches of nettles before, and even though i know they sting really bad i thought my boots and jeans would protect me so i began charging through them trying to get to some woods to play in on the other side. But shit, i got stung right through my jeans, and anyone who's touched stinging nettles before knows it's no joke when it gets you! I carefully back tracked out the patch and headed for the next barn i could see.
Being at an old barn is alot like getting to talk with an old man. You can see his personality in the construction, because each barn I have ever explored has it's own thumb print, it's own face wrinkles, it's own long wild story.
Inside the barn were rows of rusted metal holding bars for cattle, random chains and equipment on the walls, a tractor and...
A Circle Jerks cassette tape!?!!! YAY!
After a while i came back to the big farm house and made some friends! That big dog's name is Zoom and the kitty came up and got right in my warm lap. There was also a german shepard and another tiny kitty who were too shy for the picture, but I was trying to whistle and call them in. :)
Our friend Cody happened to be at the Wells Farm too! He showed me around the greenhouse (which was very warm and humid inside), and told me about an underground food cellar built into the barn where hundreds of potatoes are being stored.
MmMmM, Ya'll... look at dat Bok Choy! I want me some.
Mr. Wells is a 'live and learn' expert on wood stoves also! Buckstove being lowest on his list and his Bakers Choice cooking & heating stove close to the top. He showed me how in this Bakers Choice wood stove with just a few hot embers burning he piled the split wood on top and it ignited instantly! He put a teapot on, and the heat was flowing out. I am sold. :)
It was time to go when the sun was going down, the cold was getting real crisp and Bort was piling some logs into the car. The ride home was slow and much easier then the ride there. :)
It's been real!
It's been fun!
It's been real fun!
XoXOooo