My affinity for nature and especially the water began when I was a youngster mesmerized by the TV show The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, an oceanographer passionate about conserving marine biodiversity. At the helm of Calypso, an old mine sweeper refitted as a research vessel, he battled for enlightened understanding of Earth’s seas, capturing the imagination of millions of Americans.

His program influenced my world view. In my 20s I even joined the Naval Reserves for six years BC (before children), posted with the Naval Meteorology & Oceanography Command, in Monterey, California. My affinity for land and marine life has continued to deepen and grow stronger ever since.

To satisfy my heart’s beckoning, throughout the past 10 years, my husband, John, and I have managed to rent homes on the various lakes near the Waterloo State Recreation Area. This year we realized a long-held dream of owning a home on the water in the northern part of Washtenaw County and are putting down roots. We declared our new home a micro-farm and named it Free Sky Days.

Our small flock of chickens plus one guineafowl are settling in nicely and our new neighbors are curious and interested in our pretty birds when they pass by. We are excited to have reserved our first doeling and buckling, goat kids due to be born in June at Resurrection Ridge Farm, in Hopkins, Michigan. We’re one step closer to homemade goat cheese and milk. Yum!

Watching several goat videos that we’ve now posted on our Facebook page Natural Awakenings Ann Arbor has opened up a whole new vista of how cute and entertaining goats can be. Check them out to tickle your funny bone. Also, don’t forget, March is Buy Your Girlfriend a Goat Month!

The coming season of new energy and hopeful beginnings is a perfect time to start planning a garden and other spring projects. We dream of blue-sky days when the grass is green, and sunshine warms our faces. As soon as the soil becomes workable, we’ll start planting every vegetable and herb under the sun; we encourage everyone to grow their own organic food and herbs for healthy eating, outdoor exercise, major cost savings and tranquil time in nature. We’ll also be setting up beehive kits our children gifted us this Christmas so that we can start harvesting honey.

We just posted our first DIY video on how to tap maple trees for maple water and syrup, unprocessed and unboiled straight from the tree; it’s simple and inexpensive (see our Facebook page and the Healthy Living Michigan YouTube channel). We’ve learned that maple water affords many health benefits via 46 bioactive nutrients essential to health, including phytonutrients, minerals and active antioxidants.

We look forward to you visiting online as we share more of our homesteading adventures.

To having creative fun in your own backyard,

 

 

Trina and John Voell, Publishers