The Country in Caledonia: Sunnyslope Farm

Editor's note: Country in Caledonia is a new weekly feature we're starting this week. The focus will be on the rural character of the community -- barns, farm families, and homemade goods. If you like this feature, feel free to pass it along to others. If you have any ideas for what you'd like to see featured here, send an email to denise.lockwood@patch.com

When I pulled into the driveway of the Sunnyslope Farm, located on Five Mile Road just west of Highway 31, I was worried how the experience was going to play out. I mean, before I even exchanged words with the owners, Barbara and Harry Kampenga, I had already run their garbage cans over with my car. But when I began asking things like, “I’d like to take some photos of your barn” and “what’s tucked away inside?” never did I expect I would be on the property for over an hour.

When I began asking about the age of the barn and house alike, I realized just how young I was. The barn was built in 1891. Since then not much about the construction has changed. Harry does any maintenance with the utmost care to be sure to keep the repair in “period” construction. When a part of the wall deteriorated, Harry salvaged all usable pieces to use in further repairs in other areas of the barn. And it made me wonder what life was like when everything about the world was simpler.

As Harry showed me around the rest of the property, I began to learn what it means to think of the future. When Harry and Barbra moved to this farm 41 years ago, there wasn’t enough green to go around. But as I was led through a winding wooded trail, I learned that Harry himself planted some of the forest I was walking through. I was skeptical at first, mainly because some of these trees were at least 3 feet across. I asked Harry his secret to his green thumb in his forest and his garden alike. He said, “I don’t do a thing. I just plant, water and leave nature to do the rest.

And as I was leaving I asked Harry, “What’s the nicest thing about living in a place like this?”

“It’s a place to raise a family,” he said.