The Cycle of Life

With every beginning comes an ending.  This week, my cousin had a heart attack and did not recover.  She passed away at her home in Louisville at the young age of 51 years.  I was dropping off furniture for my older sister when the call came that she was gone.  We had not been able to visit the last two years.  I was in Canada and she was in Louisville.  The new farm puts me closer to the Louisville side of my family and she had priority on the list of visits to make.

Indeed, she will be my first visit.  Instead of laughing and cutting up about when we were young, I will pay my last respects and walk her to that final resting place.  I came home a little too late.  In nature, we witness the last breath of Autumn, the cold and dark places of Winter, await Spring's rebirth, and bask in the adolescence of Summer.  We spend all Winter waiting for our friends to join us next Spring!


If only humans were flowers that we might renew ourselves each Spring!  Alas, we are alike yet different.  The spirit of regeneration is given in place of renewal.  We are here for a time then gone.  Hopefully, that souls crosses over to a life eternal in a glorious place where one day every one will meet again.

Managing the cycles of life for the creations and creatures in your care is ninety percent of the job description.  Farmers are God's caretakers.  It seems easy when discussing cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and the like.  Yet, so difficult when the life cycle of a loved one ends.  One is never ready to part with family.  Every other instance can be reasoned away but this human loss.

Life becomes more precious when it rests in your hands.  Cradling the head of a lamb while helping it feed or nuzzling open the mouth of a tiny calf who refuses to latch onto the mother or a feeder.  One day, that life will be gone too.  While it is here, it is our job to give God's creature the life that it deserves.  Humans also should strive to help one another lead the lives that they deserve.  Going forward, I will do what I can to help others attain what is right, not what is left, ever mindful of the cycle of life.

In Loving Memory of Anita Rose Mitchell DeSpain
Blessings!

A New Beginning: Brookhill Farm of Ghent, Kentucky

BROOKHILL FARM, GHENT, KY 

It's been a long journey but we found the perfect farm for us.  We closed on a fantastic property consisting of 130 acres of rolling hills and pasture, two stocked fishing lakes, fruit and nut trees, vegetable plots, and two grape arbors.  The farm rests on the county line between Gallatin and Carroll counties in Kentucky making it convenient to Louisville and Cincinnati.

The woodland is abundant with first, second, and third growth trees making a lovely home for white tail deer and wild turkey.  This woodland also provides lovely shade and repose for the pigs that we will be rearing.  The lush pasture is perfect for rearing sheep, cattle, broilers, and this same salad bar is perfect for laying hens.

This is an ideal habitat for sustainable living and farming.  We are honored to own it and continue the management of this already well maintained property.  The previous owner was comforted in knowing that his farm would not become a real estate development.  It will remain a farm for future generations.

According to title search, this land first belonged to George Rice and is referenced in his will dated 1822.  Records indicate and locals estimate this farm dates to 1810 or earlier.  His family farmed it for generations until it was sold to the O'Neal family then to the Griffin family.  The previous owner, Flannery, sold it to us.  We look forward to working through the Winter in preparation for Spring.  Our small beef herd and chickens have a new home.  We are adding other animals this Spring and planting our garden.

I will be blogging about what's going on at Brookhill Farm as time allows.  We hope you stay tuned!

God bless!

Tina (and Richard) Boutall
Brookhill Farm
Ghent, KY
USA