Moving To West Virginia

Wow, big change.

Are you going to have another mini farm?

Are you going to have another mini farm?

Eventually. I am going to take spring and summer off (plant some tomatoes) and just be – go explore and hike. Then I will rebuild. It’ll be the 4th time, but I also have to learn a new grow zone for sure. The good thing is Kirk has many friends there, from when he lived there, and they are willing to show me the tricks of the area!

My chickens are going to a new homestead tomorrow as we wind down. It’s kind of sad to see them go, but it’s been a good run with them these years. And they are going to live with one of my best friends.

Chicken math can leave you homebound.

It’s the food raising on our current homestead that keeps me close to home far too often. The chickens I have a run I can leave them in. I’m going chicken free at the new place though. I’d like to think I have earned a summer of free range hiking ;-)

We’ll welcome you with open arms to the Mid-Atlantic area.  I’m not sure exactly where in WV you’ll be, but some of my favorite hiking is in the Dolly Sods Wilderness – about a 2.5 hour drive from Morgantown.  Look up “Red Creek Campground, Petersburg WV” for the area.  West Virginia isn’t a huge state, but there aren’t a lot of direct routes from point A to point B so travel can take longer than it looks like it should.

I hope the move goes well!

Kirk has promised to take me to Dolly Sods! He used to backpack there. We will be near Harper’s Ferry location-wise.

Perfect!  If you can avoid the weekends you’ll enjoy a lot of solitude.  It’s a little too close to DC so the weekends can get mobbed.  Because of the altitude (most of the Sods are between 4,200-4,700 feet), it’s about the only place around that I’ll hike in the summer because it stays cool.

And, of course, you’ll have easy access to the AT from your backyard…(perhaps not literally, but it will be close).

Sarah, it will be a learning curve in the garden but you will be fine.  I was a market farmer for 40 years in NC and would recommend Pam Dawling’s excellent book as she gardens in Southern VA and it is really the only book written for the region (because I never wanted to write one ;)  )

Kevin, yep, very close to jumping on the AT from the new place. Only a couple miles away.  It’s going to be different than here, where I had to drive deep into the Cascades to jump on the PCT!

Thank you Alex, I will check that out. I had finally mastered garlic growing on an island, so it’s going to be interesting to see how things grow – though I have to think peppers and tomatoes will be so easy there, I battle cold winds here even in August (the Salish Sea). The past 9 years we have been doing the market farm thing, and honestly…I am OK with a year off. I am a bit burnt out.

I’m near Lancaster PA – The AT arcs through PA west and north of me, but isn’t more than 1.5-2 hours drive at any point, so if you ever need some help shuttling please PM me and we can probably work something out.  Note:  This applies to anyone on BPL :)