It has occurred to me that I have been describing some of the things we plan to try in the future, but I have not really hit upon who we are. Most everyone that has read this blog knows one of the founders of the Hust Roost, and most know a couple of the founders, but not that many people know all six of us. How rude of me not to introduce everyone!
As mentioned just a second ago, there are six of us (three couples): Joe and Cathy Hust, Casey and Rachel Hust, and Tom and Hannah Taft. Here is a glimpse into who each of us are and our roles within the farm:
Cathy Hust (Ladies first): The wife of Joe, she currently works at a lab in Sayre, PA where she tests many things, including water and soil. You can see how her job has already aided the farm. Besides being the one who tests the soil, she also provides much of the punch needed to work and maintain the garden, and as we develop the Hust Roost, baked goods, canned vegetables, and jams will be another area of her expertise. Right now she is dabbling in the kitchen, trying a little bit of this and a little of that. Rachel and I currently have a container of her apple butter and pickles in our fridge, along with homemade vanilla in our cupboard.
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| Cathy on left. Joe on right. |
Joe Hust: The husband of Cathy, he currently works at IBM. This June, after 30 years there, he scaled back to part-time so that he could put more work into starting up the farm. He is the biggest schemer of us all, constantly coming up with new ideas and plans. He has had his hands full this summer expanding the chicken coop, expanding the garden, installing the new wood furnace, purchasing the land next to ours, and generally maintaining the homestead before the reinforcements (the rest of us) come down in the spring. He, along with Tom and Casey, plan on doing the manual labor of the farm.
Rachel Hust: The (lovely) wife of Casey, she is currently in her senior year at Roberts Wesleyan College up in Rochester. She is studying Biology and communication, as well as running on the cross country/track team (she is really fast!). She is very excited to move down after graduation to start life on the farm, and she has also been dabbling in the kitchen. Over the last couple of months, we have had several types of breads, a couple different types of jam, muffins, homemade donuts, and homemade bagels. On the farm, she is going to be the one in charge of the flower and herb gardens, she will be co-heading up the bakery side of things with Cathy, she will be making crafts, she will be milking goats, and she will be helping me keep the blog going. She is applying to Binghamton for grad school, and depending on what package they offer her, she hopes to either attend school there for Biology or get a part-time job in a lab or a doctor’s office.
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| Rachel on right. Casey on left. |
Casey Hust (that’s me!): The husband of Rachel, he is currently about to start up a new job as an assistant maintenance man at an apartment complex in Rochester (Thursday is my last day with Friendly’s, and Friday is my last day with Ace Hardware). He graduated from Roberts, where he met his (lovely) wife, in 2013. He has been researching the various aspects of the farm and blogging (very intermittently), as well as going down on some weekends to help Joe (Dad/Pops) with his (massive) list of projects. He and Rachel plan on moving down once she graduates, at which point he will join his father in the manual labor department as he looks for a part-time job to supplement the farm.
Hannah Taft: The wife of Tom, she is currently finishing her senior year at Roberts Wesleyan College. She ran (she used up her eligibility) on the same team as Rachel for three years(she is also really fast!), she is studying to be a nurse, and her and Tom are excited to be moving down to the Hust Roost once she graduates. They are very excited to fix up the yellow house next to Grandpa’s, which they are purchasing from Joe. Once down in the Binghamton area, she plans on pursuing a career in nursing while helping out on the farm.
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| Hannah on left. Tom on right. |
Tom Taft: The husband of Hannah, he is currently working at a daycare in Rochester. Though last on this list, he is certainly not last in our hearts, as he has been a great friend to me since first grade and for all intents and purposes is a brother to me and a son to Dad and Cathy. He also graduated from Roberts in 2013. He has been making weekend trips down to help Joe on projects as well as begin to prepare the yellow house for him and Hannah to move into. Come next spring, he will be joining Pops and I as the manual labor of the farm as he substitute teaches (his degree was in education).
Perhaps we are motley, but none of us would ever deny how God has brought us all together as we start the Hust Roost. A big part of the reason I love our developing farm so much is because I love each and every member of it. Undoubtedly, we will have our friction since we will be interacting so much, but these are good people to have friction with. They all desire to put God first, and they all look forward to some good honest work.
