Plans For A Future

Four years ago

I wanted to purchase chickens as a means of a sustainable food source (eggs and meat) and to have my small child in toe, then only two years old, learn what it meant to care for things beyond yourself and to have a kindship with the invisible and yet intrinsic threads of life that bind us all. It started as nothing more than a teaching tool to slowly introduce my son to the notion that many times in life, the small and intangible things such as death to sustain life co-exist and, so much of the time are needed polars for life to function in balance. The way that my father taught me- in our many and countless hours spent in the wood walking, hunting.

Years later, the vision has change and I was unknowingly taking my first steps towards a purpose that has felt ancestral, ingrained into my DNA and God produced. This feeling within my bones magnified and shifted to now wanting to utilize my natural gifts in the way I view and work with the animals and the land to share with, and nurture other people. My vision metamorphosizing into something that ignites peace, curiosity, knowledge and beauty in others. A place folks can take a trip for seasonal groceries, local milk, honey, eggs, meat and put their names down, or names of loved ones for seasonal subscription boxes for the true taste of real food raised with love and holistic practices that sustain us body and soul. A place to play in the berry fields. A place to broaden our knowledge and learn about bees and how to keep them + Using holistic practices in agriculture and butchering methods that HONOR our animals.

but its been H A R D

T w e l v e months ago, this small family of three (plus my brother) packed 100 animals into a box trailer and had the craziest and most character building move across the country onto bare land with a fixer upper cabin (probably an understatement she needs MAJOR work) that would ever exist. Within 10 months my husband would loose his job. within 11 months he would be rehired to make over 1,000 less than he had made for two years.

The words they don’t always utter when describing the success of a business idea, is that for the creative being, a business idea doesn’t always seem like a GOOD idea. Attemping to transfigure a feeling and a creative mindset into the calculating and often cold necessities of business strategy, is both overwhelming and intimidating. Now- I grew up in the world of business. My father being a chronic entrepreneur, I saw him twine together both creativity and hard work + business. But that was retail. Customer service. Not a Farm.

I am the first.

I am the front.

I am alone. (of sorts)

The time has come to place stock into what I am sure God has called me to do. It is time to take faith that once I make a decision, That God will handle all of those what if’s that flood our brains. I believe it is time to pursue loans in order to help us further this dream a little quicker and to quite frankly to help us survive. Beans and rice as they say, has been a staple for several months. Doubts are a current pest as I navigate my thoughts on the subject, attempting to remain unbiased - but I cannot deny that the predators of invasive thoughts come and present themselves as truthful obstacles, for they know my non negotiables are my family. I’ve always had the principal that if my dreams became bigger than my duties as a mother and a wife, than I had to put them down and as the bible says, “die to myself daily”.

House work, Homeschool, Kids sports, Kids enrichment, A husband engulfing in his own business passions…

Can I keep up sustainably and without loss of myself?

That is where I - we - are in this journey of life and kinship. Visions of a farm and a local shop, hosting classes and building community swim wildly in our eyes. I know that the loans I am considering will greatly speed up the process of achieving these goals and dreams and that ultimately, God is waiting to see if I believe in Him, as much as he believes in me. I carried my family across the country in pursuit of freedom, of richness in family, in the building of something new and foundational, in setting examples of faith and determination for my boy. Maybe it’s time I make good on that…..

Stay tuned.

Xo - Deandra Brant

photography by - 

Fox Brant

Matthew Brant

edited by Deandra Brant