We moved to France in September 2020 and our plan was to stay there a few years and eventually move back to Colorado on Poppy Seed Farm and build our house. Everything in France was perfect except for a few things that made it too unnerving to live there with kids, so we made the sad decision to leave on VERY short notice after only 11 months of being there. I would love to write about our experience in France, but the fact we left still makes me sad, and I don’t want to dig into all the amazing photos just yet.

Coming back to the US very last minute with no place to live and no jobs, moving with 2 kids and a dog- holy stress! We dabbled in the idea of moving maybe to another state where we could really farm the land like France, but nothing sounded appealing to us. And we already had friends in Colorado and our little community- and that is something I knew may be hard to find in a completely new place.

We considered every option under the sun when it came to housing options on Poppy Seed Farm- RV, tiny home, house and yurt. After a month of back and forth, we decided on a yurt from Colorado Yurt Company. They only had a 3 month production time, so that would give us enough time to get our utilities in before the yurt came.

We started working on the concrete slab in October, working on digging a trench around and getting our circular bender board set up for the form. I think we did the form 2-3x. And Je asked me multiple times during the process WHY we decided to do a circle and not a rectangle for the house. The circle was a pain in the a. Just to give you an example, the way the trench and bender board was positioned, you could barely fit in the trench to shovel out the dirt that kept falling in. And Je had also screwed the two bender boards together, so while trying to squeeze in the trench with a shovel, you were dodging screws sticking out. Super kid friendly. But I will say, the best tool I found to help dig out the trench was Hugo’s plastic beach shovel. Whatever gets the job done…

I wanted our yurt to be super warm and cozy (I’m always cold), so we decided to do a concrete slab for the yurt rather than a wood platform that could get pretty drafty with the wind. I also wanted radiant in floor heating, so that was easy-ish to do with concrete since you just lay the pipes before you pour.

Our concrete pour was early November and it was so exciting watching the floor of our home get built! The boys and I picked up burritos for everyone helping and just sat watching the magic happen all day. We stuck around until the end to make sure to get our handprints in the slab before it dried.

Je brought up the idea of getting land after our oldest was born. I remember him saying “It’s so important that we become self sufficient. What if one day the government just decides to shut off the electricity or water?” (he claims he didn’t say this, but I’m almost positive he did, so we’ll just go with it). At the time I thought that was a bit extreme, but seems right on point considering the world we’re living in now!

Regardless, I trust my husband’s intuition and I was certainly keen on the idea of having land in the mountains. As a kid I loved going to my grandparents’ farm in Missouri and was always jealous of the little Amish kids I saw running in the field and picking strawberries. Before we even met, Je and I both had dreams of having some sort of farm one day. And now more than ever, I am beginning to understand the true value and even necessity of being as self sufficient as possible.

We started looking for property in southwest Colorado in December 2018. We had already lived in the Front Range of Colorado for 7 years, and it was becoming extremely expensive to buy a house or land. Not to mention SO crowded.

We were the only weirdos looking for land in the dead of winter under feet and feet of snow, so there wasn’t much competition. We were having to snow shoe or cross country ski any properties if we wanted to see beyond the road. And you had to be creative imagining what it could be once all that snow melted. 🙂

We weren’t looking for anything too big, just a couple acres to have chickens, an ADU (accessory dwelling unit), and some other livestock eventually. Well turns out, we had to look at properties around 40 acres to have the things we wanted (I still don’t understand why chickens wouldn’t be allowed on like 5 acres). Anyways, in March 2019, we found what is now Poppy Seed Farm!

The land is completely off the grid. All our neighbors are on solar, septic, well. The terrain also varies a bit with large ponderosas, open fields, a rock cliff, and a gorgeous meadow to the southwest with a seasonal creek and Aspen trees and Cottonwoods galore!

Our goal is to have a self sufficient homestead with vegetables and livestock. What I’m most excited about is giving our two boys (now ages 3 and 1) a special piece of paradise in the mountains where they can learn so many practical life skills, appreciate being close to nature, and be their happiest selfs. When I was pregnant with Hugo, there was one week early on where he was about the size of a poppy seed. So my whole pregnancy we called him “the poppy seed”. That’s where we came up with the name for the farm. And it’s perfect because this property is really all for our two boys.

Je and I are really learning most things as we go. We aren’t farmers or engineers or electricians or professional gardeners. I learned all I know today in my one year in France with our chickens and garden. So as you read, I’m just sharing what we’re learning and discovering as we go through this process with two little ones. There are going to be some funny moments and a lot of mistakes along the way, but it is an adventure (which is also what I say out loud to myself whenever I feel overwhelmed…which is often). But the saying is true- without risk there is no reward. Here we go!