A man and his weed eater!

When we first bought the property that expanded Goebel Hill Farm’s footprint, much of it was buried in a sea of blackberry vines.    After several months of poking around, we uncovered a single-wide mobile home, two boats, thirteen refrigerators, twenty six cars, two low boy semi-truck trailers, 300+ tires…you get the idea.  The things we’ve found….astound!  Since then we have recycled over 22 tons of steel.  We still have this little pile left…. there has got to be another 22 tons there, don’t you think?

That spring is about 2 feet long.

Since this is the bottom of the pile, the items here are OLD.  I mean really, really old, which is why we have not been in a rush to haul it out…in addition to the fact that you can’t just pick this stuff up and toss it into the recycle bin. It’s HEAVY.  Moving anything requires 1) the husband on the tractor, 2) lugging around a heavy chain, and 3) lots of careful maneuvering so you don’t get your fingers pinched or slip and impale yourself on some object sticking up in the air.

Hal has become very skilled at filling the recycling bins.  He packs them just like you’d pack a suitcase, only he’s using his tractor!  By the time we were done loading this bin it weighed around 6 tons and NW Auto Recyclers had to send two tow trucks to pick it up so they could haul it away!

Heather and Chloe

Over the years as we’ve been restoring the barn (read more about that here), replanting the pasture and stream bank, taking down the 1924 house (read more about that here) and basically preparing Goebel Hill Farm to share with you; I’ve been stewing about what to do with the rest of that steel pile.   See, I like the old stuff in the pile and I don’t want to toss it all away just to expedite things, but this conflicts mightily with my inner tidy person.  Hal has finally been able to convince me that the steel pile is a good thing!   It’s true that when visitors to Goebel Hill Farm come around the corner of the barn and face to face with this mountain of steel stuff their jaws drop.  Then they start studying it because it’s an in-your-face history lesson.  More than once we’ve had to gently grab an elbow and hustle people away from the pile so we could get on with our day!

Which brings me to romantic February and the reason for my post. Valentine’s Day reminds me that neither Hal nor I could have tackled what we’ve done here at Goebel Hill Farm without each other.  We have had to compromise, communicate and support one another every step of the way.  So far we’ve succeeded and I think this good karma bodes well for anyone looking for a lovely venue full of history and natural beauty for their wedding day.    In marriage as in life – you know the saying – it takes teamwork to make a dream work.  Please consider Goebel Hill Farm for your next event and thank you for your interest in our farm.  Follow our blog or find us on Facebook.  We’ll keep you posted on what we find as we work our way through that intriguing pile of junk.

The Team at Goebel Hill Farm