two farmer chicks, a hoe and an apron

this is my mom and me; we are the heart, soul, sweat and tears of butterscotch farm. my maiden name is farmer so we truly are farmer chicks. mom is the mother of 5, a retired elementary school cafeteria manager, fantastic cook and one of the sweetest people i have ever met. she is the apron in our operation, baking almost every day of the week. her specialty is butterscotch pie and it is the inspiration for the name of our farm.stay tuned for more on the pie in an upcoming post. mom loves knitting and keeps our big family stocked with knitted dishcloths. she also enjoys reading and will stay up late into the night to finish a good book. she is most happy when our entire family is gathered here on the farm to enjoy the big meal she has spent days planning and preparing. at 83, she amazes me with her ambition, work ethic and ability to still do it all!

i am the hoe in our operation. it's ok to laugh -- go ahead and let loose with a big belly laugh. you'll understand the hoe part soon! my story is one of hope and longing and a great deal of courage. at 57 i was working a demanding and stressful corporate job as a marketing coordinator. i was unhappy, unfulfilled and convinced that there was a much better life for me. i longed to live simply in the country, harvest my own food from a big garden and raise chickens. visions of homesteading life haunted me at night and sustained me during long corporate work days. i felt trapped and began to realize that i was living someone else's dream and filling the pockets of arrogant corporate greed. and so one day in february 2011 i said enough. i gave two weeks notice at my job, cashed in my 401k and spread my wings.

yes, it was a scary move. and yes i had a moment of panic or two. but overall i felt an overwhelming sense of relief and the knowledge that all was finally right in my world. since my dad passed in may 2010, mom was living alone in the house she and dad built in 1955. the two plus acres included a small pole barn and room for a big garden. i approached mom about raising chickens and she loved the idea. we asked a neighbor to plow up a big garden plot and i picked up a hoe for the first time in over 35 years. i became the hoe of butterscoth farm!