Fellow Goddesses:

Hello! My name is Lauren and my family and I live and love in beautiful mid-Michigan. Just this year we purchased and moved into a sweet little farm tucked away into the countryside complete with barns, an animal enclosure, small guest house, a modest plot of woods, expansive flower gardens, a small fish pond and an unencumbered view of both sunrise and sunset. Truly, we believe it is heaven on earth.

A lifestyle I have been yearning for for years, I wasted no time researching the the most suitable farm animals for our little outfit + my composting/ gardening goals. All of the above being foreign endeavors to me until this year.

Upon the arrival of spring, I tackled the project of building out and fortifying my farm animals’ future home- the old, large chicken coop. What an awesome learning experience that was, and promptly upon completion our babes came to their forever home. We adopted four Shetland sheep and seven chickens. (Sheep: Maude, Flossie, Ada & Clementine. Chickens: Carol Baskin, Pecktricia, Phyllis Vance of Vance Refrigeration, Darlene, Beatrice, Magdalena & Rosalie.) They and our existing pets, three cats and two dogs, all get along beautifully and are fond to, under supervision, wander our five acres freely together. Life is so good.

An animal lover at birth, my sheep and chickens are more than just pets for me to love- they play an absolute and critical role in my composting. The compost bin I’ve built is stationed just outside their fenced in yard and within my garden for convenience and ease of use. Their refuse makes up 50% of the necessary composted material. My (ever evolving) composting method is as follows:

1.) lay an even, three inch layer of green material (weeds, grass clippings, etc.)

2.) dampen with hose water

3.) lay and even, three inch layer of brown material (sheep and chicken refuse, they hay from the ground in their enclosure, in-house food scraps, non-inked paper material, etc.)

4.) dampen with hose water

5.) repeat

The theory behind this semi-methodical layering technique is that the compost will not need to be stirred or turned over, it will fully decompose as is. I make it a point to end on a green layer to avoid pests/ odor which has been very effective. Our bin smells sweet and warm and is (thus far) working beautifully.

Making my own compost affords me several awesome things:

-another welcomed opportunity to learn about and work with nature and my animals

-the ability to create nutrient dense earth for my future garden with material native to it’s habitat

-further ways to utilize and reduce waste

As a naturally active, energetic and painfully curious person, the rigorous work involved in starting a hobby farm is both fulfilling and relaxing to me. My literal soul food.

Personally, I trudged through too many years of my life with no shred of “me” to be found. I became a mother at a super young age and I wholly believe that the love i have for my child is the only reason I stood a chance at a happy life. In my early 20’s I was too alone, devoid of any healthy support system, struggling with semi-serious bouts of sadness and body dysmorphia. Additionally, it’s no surprise that in conjunction with those years I was also a poor manager of what very little money I made, I clung to unhealthy eating habits, stayed center stage in gossip and drama, and held fast to toxic relationships. An overall disconnect with any fulfilling, wholesome behaviors (outside of loving my baby boy) or any of the things I’ve always loved- mother nature, imaginative creativity and play.

“And then I have nature & art & poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”

-Vincent Van Gogh

Having so very slowly and delicately dug myself from that hole, my most profound act of “self care” has been to nurture the *opposite* of all of those bad habits I clung to for so long. I speak as kindly to myself and my body as I always have to my beautiful child. I have cultivated and cherished healthy, true and honest relationships + support systems. I have reformed my handling of money and stayed true to healthy financial habits, delved back into my artistic nature, the list goes on. An ever evolving work in progress. Perhaps the most intimate, though, and crucial piece to this puzzle is the time I dedicate to nurturing my bond with the earth, and my creative and curious nature.

Ensuring and caring for these healthy connections (to nature, plants and people alike) are the things that both bind me together and set me free. My small hope is to help spread even just bits and pieces of this wholesome lifestyle to whomever is seeking it, as I once was.

Follow along with Lauren’s journey into farm-steading, and get inspired by the beauty of Makers Acres!

Makers Acres: Nature is Nurture