Changes on the Farm

Some animals have been rehomed. It's a tough change, and a process I will walk you through in this post.

I have written a lot here about some disillusionment with homesteading, questions about the lifestyle, and changes we’re making on our farm. Now we’ve come to rehoming some of the animals. 

I have hesitated to share about this because I am nervous about judgement, and I want to express the process properly. First of all, I think it is incredibly important to make it clear just how much thought went into this. It might seem like a surprise if you follow me on Instagram — I’m a pretty private person, and I don’t share the behind-the-scenes conversations until there’s something to actually talk about. The fact is that rehoming in some form or another has been a conversation on our farm for a few years. 

We started talking about the limitations of our lifestyle before Covid. We had a family tragedy which, among other life altering aspects, made it clear just how constricted farm life made us. Can you imagine having to chose between being there for your family in loss and getting home to make sure the animals are fed? I did not want to have to be in that position ever again. 

That loss, and the lockdowns that followed the next year, and changes in my relationship because of the stresses of those two factors, led me to consider…: what am I missing? What would I be doing if this wasn’t it? Does this fill my cup? If it doesn’t, why not?

And as I was considering that, I was also taking apart a lot of the feelings I had around why I had chosen this lifestyle to begin with and finding that fear was at the root of a lot of my choices. We had largely finished the rebuild project of the house, so my husband was looking for new projects and going through his own process (equally as complex and important, but his own to share if he ever choses to, not mine to put on the internet).

So by 2022 we knew we wanted to make big changes. We started by looking for a farm sitter, and we found a wonderful one but quickly realized that was still pretty limiting, requiring careful planning and budgeting. We downsized two or three goats here and there. Finally it became clear: if we wanted to make the life changes we were considering, we’d have to do some major rehoming.

I want to point out here that at a different stage in our lives this wouldn’t even be a conversation. We’re very fortunate. My husband’s kids are grown, but don’t yet have kids of their own, so we have a window where we feel more freedom to travel. The same can be said of both our parents, who are older but not in need of care. We don’t have kids or plan to have kids. We have family and friends across the US and internationally we want to connect with more. We’re young enough travel is fun and exciting. That’s the short version of “why change” and “why now”.

Once the decision was made to rehome, we had to find the right homes. I worked with my friend Anika (Bad Rabbit flowers) to find the perfect homes for my animals. I interviewed people, sent huge PDF documents on each animal’s care, and carefully considered the best places. If you are one of the lucky ones with a Hostile Valley animal now at your home, you know you have one of my best friends in your barnyard. 

We took on the responsibility of a life with each animal we added to our farm. We are not necessarily obligated to keep them from day one until they die. But we are absolutely obligated to ensure they live the best lives they possibly can, where ever that might be. 

Finally, people have asked me repeatedly: won’t you miss them? The answer is OF COURSE. I wept all afternoon when the pigs departed. I think about Lucky every damn day. I miss them incredibly. But I also miss them like you’d miss a person, a best friend — and I recognize not every person we meet stays in our lives forever. I know where my animals are, I know they’re being well cared for and they are happy. That’s more than I can say for all of the friendships and family I have made over the years, so I think I’m pretty damn lucky.

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A note:  a lot of you ask about Stanley. Stanley is staying with us for now. If the right person comes along and he loves them, he might be rehomed, but that’s entirely up to him and how he bonds with a person. We are keeping our cats, too. At the moment we still have some goats that would be staying here to keep Stanley company. 

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And in case there is any ambiguity at all: we’re staying here. We’re still farming here. We’re just making life more manageable, more flexible, allowing ourselves breaks and trips and spontaneous days out. For me, as much as I am looking forward to a few big trips we have planned, the thing I am most excited about is being hiking or visiting friends, realizing it is 4pm and not dropping everything and running home like Cinderella. 

If you have any questions about this process for us, drop a note below.

And if you want to follow the animals, you can find the sheep at Brambly Ledge Farm on Instagram, Lucky and Ginger the goats are at Come Spring Farm glamping sites in Union where you can stay and visit them or just follow them on socials, and my darling pigs are at Lobster Hill Farm in New York (which also has an airbnb you can stay at).