this is wendy. wendy grew up in suburbia where she was band geek and a jesus freak. wendy went to college, majored in english, and quickly got a job in social services and never looked back. wendy loves reading, swimming, singing, writing, hiking, thinking, and compost.
this is eric. eric spent his childhood in florida. he would love to tell you he's "from the 'hood" (in fact, odds are good if he knows you that he has already mentioned this in conversation), but it simply isn't true. eric discovered the north carolina mountains on a spring break trip to visit a friend in college and knew it was where he wanted to be. he and wendy attended appalachian state university for four overlapping years and never met each other. eric majored in history, but his first job out of college was at a year-round halloween costume store. he later settled into working with behaviorally challenged kids in mainstream classrooms and started gardening to balance his life and mental health. eric loves his yard, good hiphop, playing basketball, making lists, being outside, and getting dirty.
eric and wendy met in asheville in 2004. it is a great story, best told over beers and chips and salsa. you should hear it sometime. a year later after a backpacking trip in the grand tetons, they decided to raise a foster kid together. a year after that they got married. they worked together in a residential group home, spending lots of time with kids lots of other people had given up on. it led to lots of deep conversations about parenting, lifestyle choices, diet and nutrition, relationships, and a biological kid of their own. good stuff.
this is jamin. jamin is six. jamin lived with his crazy parents in a residential group home for a while, then his crazy parents dragged him off to calgary, alberta for a while to work in another residential group home. after deciding that living in a city that big (with no yard and no compost pile!) just wasn't for them, jamin's parents turned around and came back to the NC mountains. and had another baby. jamin loves legos, settlers of catan, mystery books, drawing and chickens.
this is cora. cora is four. cora was born at home back in asheville after the canadian adventure. cora's family went back to the group home for a little while, but it really wasn't the best fit anymore. so instead they decided to try fostering again. after a move to brevard, out in the country to try all the things they'd always wanted to try (or at least all the things they could get their landlord to say yes to), this happy family of five settled into homesteading life. cora loves babies, chickens, turtles, sparkly things, and pretending she's a duck.
this is mudflower, the happy little homestead in a sweet little intentional community on the top of a mountain just outside brevard. gosh, does this family love it here.
so wendy learned to make laundry detergent and yogurt (and she learned not to try to make both at the same time) and eric got his hands dirty in the yard. they got some chickens, hung a clothesline, planted fruit trees, dug some beds. the foster kid moved on, the manners dug in. wendy's wanderlust tapped gently at her heart, and eric's connection to this plot of land grew stronger. when an opportunity for a summer on an island in new york came up, the manners answered the call. eric would WWOOF at a big historical farm, wendy would work at a summer camp from her college days, kids would frolic on the beach and soak it all up. but who could live at mudflower while they were gone? homesteads don't just run themselves. someone has to eat all those blueberries.
this is rabbit. rabbit lived at mudflower while the manners took off on their grand northeastern adventure. and she lives here still. rabbit works with families of children birth to five at a non-profit in town. she is very good at her job. rabbit loves puzzles, board games, reading, spatial thinking projects, cooking, and sewing. and she makes the best popcorn in the world. rabbit just had a baby last month.
this is kitra, rabbit's newest project. kitra is super super cute and super super loved. so far it is kind of hard to tell what kitra like best, but eating and bouncing and cora are very high on the list.
(right now mudflower has a special guest. rabbit's mom is visiting from maui to soak up the goodness kitra is radiating. it makes up for the colder temperatures.)
we've got some chickens and some berry bushes and some big dreams. our biggest goal is to keep the pace of our lives slow enough to enjoy these kiddos and teach them where their food comes from and how to grow it themselves. we try hard to practice what we preach, not only when it comes to living a simple, low-impact life, but also in doing the hard work life in community requires. wendy teaches classes on parenting, relationships, and making this homesteading life work for families. we barter a lot. we play a lot of cards and board games. we eat a lot of popcorn (but only when rabbit is willing to make it. she does it best.) we are figuring life out as we go.
anytime someone asks eric how he's doing his automatic answer is "living the dream." I think that pretty much sums up life at mudlfower: living the dream, and dreaming bigger every day.
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