Ok, let’s acknowledge that this could easily constitute a shameless plug. I will attempt to make this blog post more related to who I am and why I named my home, homestead, or farm Scuttlebutt farm. If our ancestors could have had an internet and some understanding of how to post things publicly, what a different world we would be living in.
To start with what are we looking at? This is the first property my wife LaDonna and I purchased. It is 3.9 acres in Isle of Wight Country Virginia. In the front of the picture you can see two very mature pecan trees, though note that a huge limb was down on the right side. Behind that tree is my driveway. The house is a traditional ranch style house with two extensions on the right side is the garage extension and on the left the master bedroom was extended. So, now instead of looking like a rectangle from above it looks more like a rectangle with legs. What the heck, let me show you.
So, what you can’t see from the first image is the pool to the right of the house. What was once a barbershop to the left now serves as an office. Perhaps at some point in the future a farm store. Behind the office/barbershop is a chicken coop and to the right of it is a fenced in area where the dogs roam, with a rabbit enclosure, as much as you can keep rabbits enclosed that is. The rectangle behind the fence or above in the picture is three mature muscadine vines which produce heavily each season. The area above the is also part of Scuttlebutt farm it is at least an acre underneath high voltage power lines. Generally it is very grassy and sometimes I get bored and sculpt the weeds and grasses as artwork. 🙂
So, in total we have almost 4 acres, which is a lot of work and we are still adapting to it, but I meant to explain why we call it Scuttlebutt farm. I have this story or something close on the farms website but essentially after 23 years in the Navy. I wanted to get away from being told what to do all the time, I wanted some freedom to determine how I live. I would say I wanted to buy a piece of property build a large fence and tell the whole world to kiss my ass! When I retired from the Navy in 2010, that was the plan. As I developed an affinity for nature and natural processes I began to heal and learn to grow plants. Through dirt or soil therapy, I determined that my initial plan was not sustainable, secure, or even anything like what I desire for my family friends or myself. So, I looked inward at who I want to be.
I want to be secure and confident in my relationships with nature and mankind. Security does not come from large fences, it comes from valued neighbors and relationships as well as knowledge and skills which can never be rescinded, stolen, or outlawed. Really it comes from what you know within to include how to create or recreate it if or when desired or needed. Okay, enough of this philosophical deter.
In the Navy during the times of sails, the work was hard and the down-time limited. The modern Navy has that in common, but back then, when sailors took a break, they had little to do but hydrate. Note that some may have consumed water, but grog or watered down rum was very popular. Rum and other liquids like water were stored in Scuttles or Casks. When a break was permitted the butt end would be tapped and used to dispense drink. Hence the word Scuttlebutt. Note, sometimes it was not necessarily the butt end, it just seems most likely where the word originated.
So what about gossip? Yes, gossip is also referred to as scuttlebutt. When you are confined on the deck of a ship drinking during a break without a cell phone at sea, what is there to do but tell stories? Many times stories were dramatically embellished to curry the favor of your shipmates and perhaps Sailors were at one time some of the best storytellers.
Are we there yet? What does that have to do with the name Scuttlebutt farm? Prior to buying my first house I determined that Scuttlebutt Farm should be a place “Where people come together, to Learn, Grow, and Share the Joy of living”. I had no idea what it would look like, but miraculously or perhaps divination by our realtor, the first location we looked at brought us to What we now know as Scuttlebutt Farm.
We hope to bring more people to this location to learn about plants, to grow there knowledge, and to share the Joy in life. We should have started a guestbook or log of visitors when we purchased this property in 2017. Perhaps 2025, late, is better than never.
Our website like this one is still under development, but located here Scuttlebutt.farm
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