Welcome to my little piece of the countryside!
Hi! I’m Amanda, you can call me Manders if you’d like, lots of people do! I live on about 6 acres in the middle of rural Idaho! I’m a small town girl, software engineer, part-time farmer and full time critter keeper. I’ve also just decided I’m a blogger, so… ya know.
I’m very blessed to live in a beautiful place surrounded by family, faith, and farm life, and I’m learning all about how to care for all these things. I’m not always doing it right, but I’m trying my best and having a blast, so stick around with me and we can figure it all out together!
Why a Farm?
Why do you live on a farm Amanda? Don’t all tech folk live in Seattle and run tiny start-ups out of coffee shops and 24-hour diners?
Well, some do, this is true, and I was well on my way to following those steps when my dad called to say my mom was unwell, and some Lifetime TV Movie levels of drama later, and I moved out to my parents farm and have taken it over.
To be honest, I always planned on living on a farm, my family is in farming and I spent my summers growing up on my uncle’s farm. It was magical, land that had been in my family for over a hundred years, acres to go run and play on, lots of ways to get dirty and lots of places to go hide with a good book. That farm will always be my happy place, and now it’s only a 15 minute drive away!
Admittedly though, I kinda thought my farm life would be the result of a midlife crisis, not starting two weeks before my university graduation, so I’m still a little green. My parents bought their land my senior year of college, so they were just learning too, when my mom had her first stroke. Don’t worry though, she’s doing a lot better and getting healthier every day!
Why a Blog?
Why did you decide to start blogging now? Doesn’t everyone with a small farm blog?
Yes, farm blogs are pretty common, but farming is so wide a field, I think there’s room for everyone.
I’ve been saying for years that I should write a book, but a blog is more accessible. I actually owe a lot of gratitude to some coworkers of mine, who showed interest in my Slack based farm updates (Hi guys!). I’ve always been a shutter-bug, so this is a good way to share my photos too!
Plus, no matter what happens with this blog, a documentation of the good times (and the muddy, manure-y, swear-y times) is never a bad thing.
In any case, I hope you’ll come on this Green Acres -esque journey with me, and we can all have some much-needed laughs
Why The Farmer’s Blogger?
Well, it’s a long-running joke between my dad and I. Way back when they first bought the farm, I, a fan of country music and creating new grey hairs for my father, said, “Hey, does this make me ‘The Farmer’s Daughter’?” and he responded “Absolutely not, you can be the farmer’s anything else, but not that!”.
(In case it’s not universal, the “farmer’s daughter” in country music isn’t always known for her church-going, bible-reading, family-first, good girl behaviors, and in more recent media is quite scandalous)
So, every once in a while I declare myself “The Farmer’s Whatever-It-May-Be”. I’ve been “The Farmer’s IT Department”, “The Farmer’s Gate Handler”, “The Farmer’s Recipe Tester” in recent memory, and now I’ve decided on “The Farmer’s Blogger”.
The Farmer's Blogger 