Welcome to
Your Own Private Backwoods Oasis
Dragonfly Pond Farm is a thoughtfully designed home set on 8 + acres of peace and quiet in the backwoods of south Alabama.
Dragonfly Pond Farm is a thoughtfully designed home set on 8 + acres of peace and quiet in the backwoods of south Alabama.
The Dragonfly Pond Farm Lifestyle isn't just about enjoying the well-thought-out house.
It's about connecting with the spirit of the land, feeling grounded and nourished by the natural world outside every window.
The house isn't visible from the road, or from any other house. No need for curtains here!
The Walkout Barn can be accessed from either of two fenced horse pastures. The barn has four feeding stations (one is located inside a separate lockable stall) and one large shared water trough that refills with a flicked switch on a standpipe right outside the barn, next to a paved wash station with cross-ties.
A roofed open-sided hay house holds one large roll of hay, but also contains a hay rack for when you want to dispense individual flakes of hay from a square bale.
The hardworking apple tree just outside the barn makes everyone happy! The horses love to eat any apples we don't use for jellies or pies.
(And in case you were wondering, dogs like apples, too.)
Purple Martin colonies are fun to have around. Their song is beautiful and uplifting to hear, and it's fun to watch them soar circles around the sky. But they don't eat as many mosquitoes and flies as they are given credit for destroying.
In fact, dragonflies are the real reason we don't have a lot of mosquitoes plaguing us despite the sw
Purple Martin colonies are fun to have around. Their song is beautiful and uplifting to hear, and it's fun to watch them soar circles around the sky. But they don't eat as many mosquitoes and flies as they are given credit for destroying.
In fact, dragonflies are the real reason we don't have a lot of mosquitoes plaguing us despite the swampy area nearby. So if the Martins arrive, welcome them, but don't expect too much in terms of pest control. The dragonflies do that.
The chickens and roosters around here are like little ninjas protecting us from tiny but powerful foes.
Chickens eat fleas and ticks ('nuff said).
They are also known for eating small snakes (even venomous ones) before they grow large enough to harm us (or cause us to harm ourselves as we trip over our own feet trying to run away).
We close the pop-doors after our free-range chickens put themselves up at night. In the morning, we let them out again and scatter scratch grains in the chicken field. During the day, they range out into the swampy area between the house and the train tracks.
Because our free-range chickens get so much protein from the bugs and grubs they
We close the pop-doors after our free-range chickens put themselves up at night. In the morning, we let them out again and scatter scratch grains in the chicken field. During the day, they range out into the swampy area between the house and the train tracks.
Because our free-range chickens get so much protein from the bugs and grubs they catch when they forage, the yolks of their eggs are dark orange instead of the anemic pale yellow of grocery store eggs.
Several mature blueberry bushes surround the pool, so it's easy to pick a gallon of blueberries in a half-hour without moving from one spot. The challenge is to keep ahead of production, because it's a shame to let even a handful of these sweet plump blueberries go to waste.
The apple tree across from the barn is going above and beyond. The apples are firm and mild-tasting, something between an apple and a pear in flavor. Great for jellies and pies, these apples are also a favorite of horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, and dogs. Pick them while you can.
Our Americauna hens lay eggs that are pale pink, green, and blue. We also have hens who lay tan or cream-colored eggs. When the handsome Copper Marans rooster fertilizes the eggs, they come out a darker brown, or olive in tone. No matter what, the eggs our chickens lay are beautiful, delicious, and good for you.
Wild wisteria climbs up the side of this wood shed overlooking one of the two horse fields.
This is the den fireplace. But it's not the only one. Just behind this wall, there is another fireplace exactly like this one for the screened porch!
So, for those folks who like to sit outside on cool evenings and enjoy an outdoor fire, we've got you covered.
Two side-by-side woodsheds allow for the separation of seasoned and newly cut wood.
In all the years we've been here, we've never made it to the bottom of t these stacks of wood, and we've never had to buy firewood, because the universe around here provides plenty.
This Butterfly Weed comes back every year -- it's planted in several places. It's beautiful all summer, and then near the end of its seasonal blooming cycle, it feeds the monarch butterfly caterpillars.
The caterpillars then make their cocoons on the underside of the nearby ginger plants' leaves.
It's kind of sad to watch the caterpillars
This Butterfly Weed comes back every year -- it's planted in several places. It's beautiful all summer, and then near the end of its seasonal blooming cycle, it feeds the monarch butterfly caterpillars.
The caterpillars then make their cocoons on the underside of the nearby ginger plants' leaves.
It's kind of sad to watch the caterpillars eat the butterfly weed down to the stems, but so worth it to know that we're providing the necessary vegetation for the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly.
Dragonfly Pond Farm is a special place with a calming, healing vibe. Worry and stress fall away when you drive through the gate, and the longer you're here, the more grounded and centered you become. We think it's because the spirit of the land is so much a part of this place.
Even the critters feel it. Everyone gets along with everyone e
Dragonfly Pond Farm is a special place with a calming, healing vibe. Worry and stress fall away when you drive through the gate, and the longer you're here, the more grounded and centered you become. We think it's because the spirit of the land is so much a part of this place.
Even the critters feel it. Everyone gets along with everyone else, and a quiet place to lie in the sun is always just steps away -- unless you're already lying on your back, sunning on the front porch.
The horse barn has room for several horses to come and go as they please, with a communal water trough that is filled with the flick of a switch at the standpipe next to the wash stand. Inside the barn, there are four feeding stations, one of which is located inside a 12 x 12 stall with a sliding door.
If you want more than a handful of h
The horse barn has room for several horses to come and go as they please, with a communal water trough that is filled with the flick of a switch at the standpipe next to the wash stand. Inside the barn, there are four feeding stations, one of which is located inside a 12 x 12 stall with a sliding door.
If you want more than a handful of horses, that's totally doable, too. The five-bay pole barn adjacent to the horse barn is wide enough and already has the necessary support beams to add five separate stalls that would open out to one of the horse fields. And, you'd still have room to park five F-250 long-bed crew-cabs.
The front porch is the best place to view the world around us.
It's not the only porch around here though.
There's a screened porch, a back porch (where all the grilling is done), and a side porch that is accessed from the main-floor second wing of the house. But right now, we're just talking about the front porch.
From this vantage point,
The front porch is the best place to view the world around us.
It's not the only porch around here though.
There's a screened porch, a back porch (where all the grilling is done), and a side porch that is accessed from the main-floor second wing of the house. But right now, we're just talking about the front porch.
From this vantage point, you can see the driveway straight ahead, with the automatic access gate that can be operated with individual "clickers," or a button located in a box to the right of the gate, or a coded keypad outside the gate.
If you've ever been to Scotland in the summer, you know what this place looks and feels like after a rain. It's almost like the air itself is a bright Kelly Green.
It even SMELLS green.
The barn cats (and the house cats) hide out under the aviary or the porch or the backyard pavilion when the rain is really tearing down. But then afterwar
If you've ever been to Scotland in the summer, you know what this place looks and feels like after a rain. It's almost like the air itself is a bright Kelly Green.
It even SMELLS green.
The barn cats (and the house cats) hide out under the aviary or the porch or the backyard pavilion when the rain is really tearing down. But then afterward, everyone ventures out to enjoy the fresh, green-smelling air.
Humans included. The only difference is that we have to wipe down the porch chairs with towels before we sit.
Whether you're a cat inspecting a hanging basket of flowers, or a horse enjoying the breeze that riffles through their mane, or a human learning to hear the subtle sounds contained in the wind, there's always something here to connect with and wonder about.
To live in this place is to live connected with the earth. To live here is to un
Whether you're a cat inspecting a hanging basket of flowers, or a horse enjoying the breeze that riffles through their mane, or a human learning to hear the subtle sounds contained in the wind, there's always something here to connect with and wonder about.
To live in this place is to live connected with the earth. To live here is to understand the ways of nature, and to benefit from that understanding. If you're tired of stressing and striving, and want to learn a new way of being that helps you reach your goals in a way that benefits all and sacrifices none, this may be your place.
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