Hi everyone, I’m Danielle or Dee for short. I’m thrilled to be joining a community of mamas from my own backyard! Mamahood is HARD, so I’m glad to build a community of others who can truly relate to this time in my life.
I’m a first-time mama unless you count being a dog-mama to my yellow lab, Bryer, which I totally do. My non-fur-baby is a six-month-old daughter named Charley Jo Rose or Charley, CJ, C-Bear – you get the idea. My husband, Joe, rounds out our little family unit.
I’m just a suburban gal learning to be a farmer and homesteader, all wrapped into a world traveler. I grew up in the suburbs of Owosso and then moved to the little village of Chesaning once I graduated high school. That’s when I met my husband, and when my plans of moving to a big city suddenly didn’t feel quite right. Thirteen years later, I still call this little small town my home.
We might live in a small town, but as I said, we’re world travelers at heart. Before we got married, we both did our own separate globe trotting. A couple of years ago we took our first international trip together to Europe. We started making plans for our next trip while we were still abroad. I love to eat the local cuisine and find a quiet place to people watch, while Joe loves to eat the local cuisine and go on agriculture tours. He literally had me taking photos of cows out of the car window while driving through the Alps in Austria.
That leads me to another important component of my world – farming. While my day job is in communications at a local university, the rest of the time, Joe and I are farmers and aspiring homesteaders. We launched our farm, Section 32 Farms {@section32farms}, a year or two ago. We’re converting our farm into a sustainable grassland with the goals of creating a whole ecosystem of products that are good to the land, the animals, the environment, and people. We want to build a family legacy where Charley and someday our other kid{s?} can grow up around family, a sense of responsibility, and the freedom to be creative entrepreneurs. And we’re trying to get back to the older style of living, where you make or grow what you need, share among family and friends, and leave out the excess.
We just got our first batch of cattle this spring, and our cows are ready to deliver their calves in the summer! I’ve never done most of this farming work, so each new challenge is an adventure for me. Luckily I feel a little more prepared for calving season after giving birth last fall!
I can’t wait to share my wild ride with all of you of learning to be a first-time mama and first-time farmer.
