Hackstock

This page has been written in October 2006. Most of the photos are of that time too, only the photos to the north and the front view of the house are from April 2007.

As we didn't complete our search for a farm before the start of a new school year, but Patrick hated the school in Grünburg and also the farm there was sold, so that the owner needed the place empty, we found another temporary quarter (which is close to some of our farm projects, where the school is marvellous and Patrick is really motivated!)

It was the byproduct of our search for a farm and in itself could be a mini-farm, just for the survival of a family. It consists of a big, rather modern house - a former guesthouse later rebuilt for two families -, on 7800 square meters of meadows, a wild patch with nettles and thistles where goats and free-range pigs could thrive, and a little patch of forest.

We have not fully moved in yet, but we started to cultivate the place that is owned by a lady who after her family broke apart could not manage the property anymore, so we found it in a rather adventurous condition, wildly overgrown and neglected.

After we cut the breast-high grass, we found that the place looks exceptionally beautiful. Although it is situated in the middle of a very small (about 15 houses) village, one of the former owners planted trees in such a way that they now, after about 20 years, act as a hedge that gives us a feeling of being completely for ourselves.

There is a flower bed running around the house that a worker had to dig out. He spent two full days on that! Then I spent another two days on replanting the flowers and strawberries that I had found buried in a jungle of weeds. Some fresh ones will follow, plus tulips and other spring bulbs.

One bathroom had frozen in one of the three winters that the house was empty. We had to change all the appliances before we could turn on the water. The wood stove was old and smoked into the kitchen, but the owner had a new one in the basement, so we didn't have to bring our own (much of our stuff is now in storage). In two rooms we still have to lay in a floor - the owner lady paid for the materials but there is quite some work to do.

One of the first things we did, was to bring our laying hens and install them temporarily in an old garage. Some new sisters followed, as we always stock up the group in fall. We also got some baby chickens who will be lunches and suppers around Christmas :-)

One of the dreams that I had for the last two years was to work in a forest and balance my office existence with that quiet and pleasant outside work. This dream started to come true for me today. Just in time, a local supermarket had a special on motor chainsaws. I bought one of them, and today went into the dark and wild jungle and started to treat it like any forester would treat a neglected forest. It was an incredible experience and much easier than I thought! A real acknowledgement that my ideas have gone in the right direction.

After the arctic spring and a heat wave in July, we now had one of the friendliest Septembers in history, and October has started just as nice. It feels like an extended spring outside. I will have to do more training before a real farm life can start - maybe I can get some of that training done before the winter...

Most of these photos have been taken from our south looking tin roof. Paul was still active at the time. On that day he was setting up chicken furniture.


Looking West-South-West	Looking West
Looking North-West	Looking North-North-West
Looking North	Looking North-East
Looking North-East, Hackstock Pub	Looking East-North-East
Looking East	Looking East-South-East
Looking South-East	Looking South-East + down
Looking South	Looking South-South-West
Paul still active!