Oak Shire Farms - What's in a name?

What's in a name?

I suppose one must always ask such a simple question in the beginning. Some will tell you nothing and others much - but in the end the answer lies with you. Since it is the first thing shared, I will try to deliver to you how we came up with the name of our homestead so that we can begin together. 

For several years we had been searching for a parcel of land that would remove us from the urban chaos and societal 'norms' of living in the city and allow us to begin building our dreams. It just so happens that when the opportunity arose, we found a nice rural 16 acre parcel that had once been part of a larger farm. Roughly   80% of which was covered in forest. It also so happens that a good bit of that forest is composed of oak trees. Which was another blessing, because of the special affinity we have for oaks. So we arrive at OAK.

Now if you ask most anyone the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the word Shire [or so we like to think] is Hobbits. Personally, I have been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien for most of my life. I introduced him to my wife who also swiftly became a fan. So when you have parents who are such devout fans, well then surely one cannot blame their seven children for being such as well! We always pondered what life would be like in the Shire and often question the amount of 'hobbit' in our blood. Hence the arrival of SHIRE.

In our desire to return to 'the old ways' we look back at our ancestors, and the lives they lived. Life in an agrarian society was much different than today to say the least. Our roots rest in the foundations of rural life, of taking care of our needs the best we could with whatever means the Earth provided us. Many of our ancestors lived on 'family farms' a.k.a homesteads. The term 'farm' today has taken such on such a twisted form as agribusiness and animal science has replaced the reality of what rural farm life once was. We never would hope to aspire to such a place as that and will never meet the definition of a farm in today's world. In truth we do not seek to 'make a living' in modern terms by selling acres of crops or heads of livestock, instead we dream of making a living in the truest meaning of the word. We don't sell our eggs, meat, or vegetables. We may barter or gift them with friends or family but that is as far as it goes. Now to reference back to the Shire, as any of the kids will tell you the Shire is covered with farms and so is our homestead. Each of the children has taken on their own special interests as the opportunities arose. For instance one of our daughter's takes care of the ducks and so she has her own Duck Farm, or one of our sons takes care of the rabbits and has his own Rabbit Farm, dad has his Pig Farm, etc. I am sure you get the idea. With all of our various 'farms' coming together we developed the FARMS.

So in a very short version, I have shared with you at how we arrived at the name of our homestead:
OAK SHIRE FARMS

I hope this helps you to answer the question of "What's in a name?"