Lumber prices are through the roof. With everything we are trying to improve around our land (i.e raised beds, fence posts, maybe a house or two), the cost of subpar lumber seemed like a lose, lose situation. So, we bought a saw mill.

My husband and I have some exquisite dreams. Between multiple garden spaces, home improvement and/or reconstruction, farm expansion, and various other goals that involve wood for structures; it just seemed fitting to begin the search for a more cost effective alternative than outsourcing lumber at local hardware stores.

Luckily, my husband’s parents are equally on board with our goals and dreams here on the farm and played a huge role in moving this process along.

See, my brain does not “work” when it comes to construction type projects. I feel most at home growing food, blogging about the process, improving the home, and preparing the meals to fuel our bodies.

That is where my husband and father-in-law come in. Not only are they best friends, but they share the same interests and every addition or wild idea we have had in the last 12 months has been welcomed by the two.

Bee keeping? Sure. Through connections of my father-in-law, we had bees within a month at our house. And over the course of the next twelve months, he and my husband expanded from 1 hive to 5 (some with supers on top).

Chickens? No problem. The two spent several weeks building our custom coop.

Sourcing cedar for as many raised beds as my heart desires? You got it. They ordered a saw mill.

And now the possibilities seem truly endless. We were told that if they ran the mill for 8 days, 8 hours a day that we would have enough wood to build a house to our liking.

We might just test that theory sooner rather than later.

After several days of assembling the saw mill, we finally put it to the test last night. We stayed up way too late, having way too much fun. Something I never thought I would say about milling some lumber. We are learning this farm and homestead lifestyle one small step at a time. Yet, I can’t help but feel as though this is a huge step.

To know that there is potential to harvest all of the trees from our land and mill it to build our home, garden beds, and whatever else gives me great joy. Today, we are thankful for progress and excited for the future.