One year ago this month I started working remotely full time for an off-site employer. Having poured all of our savings into the ranch I needed an income to provide for my family and keep developing the ranch. That dramatically slowed us down, but we still made some significant progress this year!

We’re developing as fast as possible so we can be a blessing to those who need it but sometimes progress seems like a game of inches. The two things needed to make faster progress are time and money. Working almost 40 daylight hours per week tethered to a computer (powered entirely by the sun – we’re off grid) leaves a few hours of daylight in the summer and very little in the winter to get anything else done.

I consider my weekends “ranch therapy” because I get to work full time doing what I love. I’ve always found ways to enjoy the work I do, but I’ve never enjoyed any work more than building a ranch: the incredible variety of interesting projects, working outside with nature, enjoying the sun (getting plenty of Vitamin D), building different muscles, the adventure of taming the land, the mental stimulation of learning new things, etc.

My wife and daughter never cease to amaze me with everything they get done around here while I’m sitting/standing around working on a computer (I alternate between sitting and standing all day). I used to write a blog post every week about our progress, but I just can’t keep up anymore between everything getting done and my limited time to write. Winters have more hours of darkness that limits outdoor work so I’ll try and catch up with multiple blog posts rather than try and fit everything into this one. There is much to share!

Thanks to the girls, there was a month or so this summer that we weren’t buying any vegetables because we were producing all we could eat and then some! Our original goals were: the first year to build soil, the second year to grow enough to feed ourselves (that was this year), and the third year is to grow enough to start contributing to the local food economy. We are pretty much on track in spite of constant challenges and setbacks.

It’s not easy producing food on the high desert. We don’t have a food preservation system yet and being off-grid limits the practicle options for that. However, we get 10+ hours of sunlight even on the shortest day of the year (December 21). This means we can grow produce year round, which can serve as an alternative to preservation, as long as we help the plants deal with our erratic seasons (eg. with a greenhouse).

Besides time constraints, the other limitation to developing the ranch is money. Ranch infrastructure (eg. irrigation, greenhouse, meat production, domes) all cost money. If I traveled, I could make all kinds of money. But that would be counterproductive, both for my health and for building and maintaining the ranch. So I work remotely, which severely limits the options available to me.

Because we’re Christians we won’t go into debt (Rom 13:8) or seek government funding (ie. taxpayer money – that’s like using the government to steal from your neighbors). We just tried doing a silent auction fundraiser, but we didn’t get a single bid. There are probably multiple reasons for that. I’ve been thinking about other ways to generate additional income so we can increase the pace of development. I would welcome suggestions from our supporters.

These time and money limitations have been teaching us patience. My wife and I move fast in just about everything. From the day I asked for her phone number to the day we got married was less than three months – courtship, wedding planning, future planning, etc. We make informed decisions and once we decide on a course of action, we get it done. That’s just how we do life and Sabbatical Ranch is no different. I suppose that’s why we’ve made so much progress in two and a half years starting with bare land, little money, and no possessions at the end of a yearlong healing sabbatical, before which we had walked away from everything.

Slowly but surely Sabbatical Ranch is developing. It will happen as fast as God wills. Our goal is to bless as many people as we can! Thank you for your support and prayers. If you’ve read this far, may the Lord bless you, and keep you; make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.