How I Got Here

Some of you are probably assuming that I grew up on a farm doing all of this stuff, so it all comes naturally.  I didn't.  I grew up in Yakima, Washington.  An area most known for it's production of apples.  If you read the sticker on any apple, it will likely read that it was grown in Yakima, WA.  I did grow up in the country, but not on a farm.  We had the typical pets.  A Labrador, a couple of cats, and some fish.  I've always loved animals, and when I was about 12, I got my first horse, Cocoa.  My mom and I loved horses and always had a couple, but that was as far as my parents would let me venture into the world of farm animals.  I remember them saying that "When you have your own house, you can have as many animals as you want."  Probably a mistake telling me that!  :)

My mom had a small garden when she could, and ALWAYS had flowers.  I grew up helping in the garden a little bit, but we weren't ever serious food producers, it was more of a very small hobby.  Mom always canned a little bit of jam and usually some peaches too.  This knowledge didn't stick with me though.  I've had to relearn it from books and hands on experience. 

My parents divorced when I was 12.  My dad moved to Montana, and my brother and I followed.  I lived there for a year, in apartments, and actually loved it there.  The people were nicer, the scenery was beautiful, and many people lived a rural lifestyle that I so envied.  Visiting my mom that summer vacation was enough to entice me to move back.  I missed actually living in the country and having horses.  I kept various horses until I graduated, then sold my last horse to pay off my truck loan and become an "adult". Instead of going to college right after school, like I should've done, I moved out and worked crappy, minimum wage jobs for two years.  I realized that I deserved more out of life, and enrolled at Montana State University, in Bozeman, and returned to live with my dad and brother in 2007.  It was nice living with them once more, since I missed out on that as a teenager.

I met my husband, Curt, when I started working graveyard shift at Wal-Mart in Bozeman.  He was originally from a small town in north central North Dakota, called Rolette.  He brought me back for Thanksgiving to meet his family.  I loved it here, and couldn't get it out of my head that someday we'd move back and raise our kids on his family's vacant farmstead, and that's what we did.  So, my college experience only lasted one year, but by the end of it, I had a general idea of what I wanted to do.  Farm sustainably, on a small scale, in a way that worked with nature.  All of that, I decided, could be learned through reading on my own.  I didn't know it at that time, but a whole lot of trial and error hands on experience was also going to be involved.

Curt and I married on the farm near the lake, in the pasture after it was hayed, August 15, 2009.  We wasted no time, and Willow Ann Lunde was born on May 23, 2010.  Willow is now two and LOVES living on the farm.  She helps me gather eggs, feeds the goats and chickens their grain, and "helps" me in the garden.  We are expecting Lunde girl #2 near July 3.

I started my business, Feral Farm www.feralfarm.co  making (from scratch) natural lotion, lip balm, soap and more, Fall of 2010.  I desperately wanted a way to make a living on the farm, so I could stay home with Willow and raise more of our own food.  I was originally just going to make goats milk soap, since I already had the goats.  I ended up basing my business off of my body butters, and lip balms.  I have slowly been adding new products, like my lotion bars, soap, and VERY soon a line of natural baby products and natural insect repellent.  I love what I do.  It's the perfect mix of science and creativity to feed my soul.  I learned how to do all of this on the internet, but the recipes are all my own formulations.  I hope to use as many things grown here, on the farm, as I can in my soap, like goats milk, herbs, and even vegetables.  I currently use some of the lard that I rendered from the pigs I raised last year in my soap.  The pigs were raised humanely on pasture.  I also use the lard for cooking.

I need to add that Curt is NOT a country boy, and this is his first time living out of town.  Luckily, he puts up with me, my crazy ideas, and my rural ways, and is a pretty good sport about doing things on the farm like putting up fencing, and feeding the animals when I need him to.  We are learning to do this together. So, just because you've never done something before doesn't mean you can't start, or it's too late.  It's a lot of work living on the farm and growing our own food, and it sure as hell isn't all roses, but I believe with enough determination and a fair amount of luck, anybody's dreams can come true.