My DH and I have been wrestling with 'a big life changing event', yep another one :) Our farm/homestead/home business goals will/are require time and considerable effort. For this to have a chance we feel one of us needs to be working at home. Home to be the primary child caregiver, chauffeur, etc. Home to be the household manager, bookkeeper, etc. Home to be the chicken/turkey/(beef/goat?) wrangler. We have tried DH working full time and me working 50% with only partial success. Being a small business owner/partner-I find work encroaching on those days off-filling in for emergencies, fielding questions from staff/clients; my days off are never a sure thing. We are both professionals and good at our work; DH is finding his job frustrating and unfufilling, while I have days of intense pleasure (they PAY me to do this?!) alternating with the dread (I can't fix this pet, too many people want too many things from me)of high responsibility and caretakers fatigue.
We are both finding ourselves stressed out because we cannot do a satisfactory job at either our home or office jobs, and feel that the solution is for one of us to be the income earner and the other to be the home and farm manager. The original assumption was for me to stay home and Tom to work. We are each inclined to fulfill our 'gender roles'; he as income producer and I as caregiver. This would mean me selling my portion of the business to my partner and thereby having a nice but not earth-shattering amount of cash. We could pay off my student loan, buy a tractor and put the rest into a college fund. Nice, right? I have been sitting with this idea for a while and it makes me selfishly very happy but hearing voices. Voices that wonder about selling a business which is profitable even in this economy, that wonder about the stability and longevity of DH's employers. The projects we have at home now require a skill set that are not my strong points -carpentry, post holes, fencing-and oh yeah-organization!
So, as much as it makes me want to kick my feet and have a tantrum :) I need to explore what happens if I work full time and DH stays home. It means no cash to buy a tractor or finish the workshop. We will need to come up with 2/3 of the workshop's price tag by next June to fulfill our construction loan (could work with tough budgeting -or a SOLD house!) I have a lot of untapped earning potential and money wise it might cash flow for us. We need to find health insurance since DH's employer carries that. What else...is Tom willing to do dr and dentist and orthodontist and lessons. Is he willing to pay bills, to return library books and go grocery shopping? Is he okay with being Mr Mom? Am I okay with the responsibility of being the sole bread winner-scary!
As I think things through I am excited by having energy to put into the clinic. I am pulled in too many directions now and have been a jack of all trades, master of none lately. We have so many great things about our clinic-if I can take control of our/my direction instead of being the passive receiver of what comes my way...
I am so thankful to have this outlet for my internal dialogue. I am at peace with this option if some of the details can be worked out. It is not what the selfish child in me desires, but the thoughtful adult looking out for the needs of her entire family (herself not the least of all).
Showing posts with label ArkWorks Farm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ArkWorks Farm. Show all posts
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Changes
Sorry for the erratic posting schedule--lots of things on my mind, I haven't felt composed enough to put together a coherent post.
We just returned from another long weekend in the country. I have to say -hot running water is one of the seven wonders of the man made world!
The time we spend at the camper/ArkWork Farms has been changing us. Externally we are browner from the sun and the dirt which has become ground in-but not leaner yet (too many steaks and brats-not enough homegrown veggies-but that is changing). Internally we are changing as well-more thoughtful and less reactive-its hard to put a finger on but I like it. It has been so cool to see my DH return to the man I remember-creative, resourceful, (and sweaty!). He has spent too much time behind a desk it the past 10 years.
This weekend we (mostly he) built the second chicken tractor. The banties in the apple orchard need a new home-the apple are growing on the baby trees and I don't want them to eat those precious apples. The plan all along was to get them into a tractor so they can fertilize the grass. Once the second batch of meat chickens (the Nuggets as we like to call them) are done the hens can go back to the coop. (Or we will be living next door and we will take them)
The garden is looking great! I had no idea I could create something so beautiful! we are currently harvesting radishes, lettuce, some bolting spinach, swiss chard and peas. The pepper plants are struggling a bit-they are puny but starting flowers, the turnips continue to be eaten by a tiny iridescent bugs which eat holes in the greens-but they continue to grow and I can see nice purple skinned tubers in the ground. The show stopper in my garden are the four rows of potatoes. They have such beautiful flowers! I should have planted them further apart, we were not able to hill them very well, so i just filled the trench between the rows with old leaves-it's all an adventure!
I was very disappointed on the 4th, I discovered my children do not know how to spit watermelon seeds--I mean really, what is the world coming to? They have never had a watermelon with seeds-it was fun to see them try to spit those buggers out.
I will leave you with a view from our (camper) front door: ArkWork Farm on the right and the adjacent old farm (future home??) on the left.
We just returned from another long weekend in the country. I have to say -hot running water is one of the seven wonders of the man made world!
The time we spend at the camper/ArkWork Farms has been changing us. Externally we are browner from the sun and the dirt which has become ground in-but not leaner yet (too many steaks and brats-not enough homegrown veggies-but that is changing). Internally we are changing as well-more thoughtful and less reactive-its hard to put a finger on but I like it. It has been so cool to see my DH return to the man I remember-creative, resourceful, (and sweaty!). He has spent too much time behind a desk it the past 10 years.
This weekend we (mostly he) built the second chicken tractor. The banties in the apple orchard need a new home-the apple are growing on the baby trees and I don't want them to eat those precious apples. The plan all along was to get them into a tractor so they can fertilize the grass. Once the second batch of meat chickens (the Nuggets as we like to call them) are done the hens can go back to the coop. (Or we will be living next door and we will take them)
The garden is looking great! I had no idea I could create something so beautiful! we are currently harvesting radishes, lettuce, some bolting spinach, swiss chard and peas. The pepper plants are struggling a bit-they are puny but starting flowers, the turnips continue to be eaten by a tiny iridescent bugs which eat holes in the greens-but they continue to grow and I can see nice purple skinned tubers in the ground. The show stopper in my garden are the four rows of potatoes. They have such beautiful flowers! I should have planted them further apart, we were not able to hill them very well, so i just filled the trench between the rows with old leaves-it's all an adventure!
I was very disappointed on the 4th, I discovered my children do not know how to spit watermelon seeds--I mean really, what is the world coming to? They have never had a watermelon with seeds-it was fun to see them try to spit those buggers out.
I will leave you with a view from our (camper) front door: ArkWork Farm on the right and the adjacent old farm (future home??) on the left.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Taste of the 'Good Life'
We are three days into our first four day 'weekend' at the camper. Our camper sits in the woods near the rear of my father's 40 acre farmette. My garden is finally looking less like a patch of dirt. The potatoes have taken off, the pole beans are up and the peas are begging for a trellis. I finally planted the peppers and tomatoes which have been adorning my deck for so long! Tom and I planted a 40x60 (?) foot patch of peas and oats yesterday in the hopes that we can use them for chicken feed-either scythe and store them or turn the girls loose in the patch. My girls were riding their bikes everywhere! We were all very tired little campers last night!
The laying hens are back to full production: 8 eggs/day from the 9 leghorns and 19 eggs/day from the 25-ish banties. They were improving within 4 days of moving them into more spacious quarters.
Tom and I have been able to sell eggs to co-workers. We can't market them as organic because of their feed (Purina-Layena) but I think they are better than commercial organic!
The laying hens are back to full production: 8 eggs/day from the 9 leghorns and 19 eggs/day from the 25-ish banties. They were improving within 4 days of moving them into more spacious quarters.
Tom and I have been able to sell eggs to co-workers. We can't market them as organic because of their feed (Purina-Layena) but I think they are better than commercial organic!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Queen Elizabeth and 'Cluckingham' Palace
This is my 6 year old daughter Elizabeth (Lizzy), in front of our first attempt at a chicken tractor. I say first attempt because this is all new to us and what crazy person (me!!) expects the first attempt to turn out perfectly or even adequately?! These chickens are at my Dad's place 30 miles away, the site of future home (keeping fingers crossed!). The laying flock needed a summer home while their coop was borrowed by the Cornish cross meat birds. Tom and I had read Joe Salatin's Pastured Poultry book and were excited to try it out. We made some modifications and ended up with something with a smaller square foot footprint, but taller and heavier (Tom can pull it, but us less gifted mortals have to use the garden tractor to move it!). It currently houses one rooster 9 leghorns and approx 20 bantams. They have been in there for 1 week and egg production has dropped off alot. The production of the chickens left behind in the orchard has also dropped. I think they are all stressed. I know next to nothing about chickens, but now my real education begins. I will keep you all posted as to what we figure out.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I Need Chicken Help!
There is a story behind this request that I will not go into completely here. DH and the chicks (all 3 of us) will be taking over ArkWork Farms egg flock for the summer. The coop and yard they currently use will be given over to the Cornish cross meat birds in May. Currently about 30 hens and 4 (?) roosters (correct me if I'm wrong Stoney), approx 1/3 of the group are leghorns and the remaining are banties. I am looking for an 'Eggmobile' type portable chicken coop. I believe they cannot be allowed free range due to the hawks, family of fox and neighborhood dog around the farm. But I'm just a green horn-what do I know?! I am finding lots of very cute little backyard tractors for 4-6 birds. Any suggestion from the homestead crowd for a movable coop for 30 birds? that we can build in next 2 weeks? We can thin the flock if needed and some predator loss is acceptable -the alternative is the entire flock ( and the source of my egg supply! ) finds a new home.
Kris
Kris
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wonderful Worms and Earth Day
The past 4(?) years my family has gotten together to celebrate Earth Day at ArkWorks Farm. I do not kid myself into thinking that the things we do are really making a difference for the earth, anymore than turning the lights off for an evening will slow climate change. I see globalization, capitalism and our species living well beyond our means as a raging wildfire sweeping across a tinderbox forest, Earth Day is me stepping on a single live ember of this fire; grinding it out under my heel and feeling self righteous for doing a good deed. If we grind out enough embers, as a society we may be able to effect change. Or maybe we just enjoy a day with our family doing some work outside and eating grilled home grown chicken!
For my family: on our agenda this weekend is wonderful worms! I will help you set up a worm compost bin and you can let the worms eat your garbage! Bring a medium sized plastic storage bin with a good lid to the Farm this weekend as a temporary bin.
First thing-how much garbage do you have? Plan for the permanent worm bin to have 1 sq ft surface for each lb of compost-able garbage per week. 5# of coffee grounds, egg shells or veggie scraps each week = bin foot print of at least 5 sq feet.
The bin can be as easy as a large plastic storage bin with some holes drilled in the side or wooden or the more expensive commercial bins like 'Can-O-Worms'. I have a book with lots of different plans and options for your viewing pleasure this weekend.
The bin should stay in a cool place like a basement or garage-they prefer temps 59-77 but will still work (but more slowly) at 50. They really do not like temps in the high 80's and up. Basement works best if you do not want them to freeze out over the winter.
I should be receiving the redworms in the next day or so and Saturday we can set up your temporary bins. The weather looks cooperative and there was NO mud last weekend, in fact it was much, much too dry. We are going to attempt our first overnight in the camper saturday night (IF I can get organized enough). Have a great week! Kris
For my family: on our agenda this weekend is wonderful worms! I will help you set up a worm compost bin and you can let the worms eat your garbage! Bring a medium sized plastic storage bin with a good lid to the Farm this weekend as a temporary bin.
First thing-how much garbage do you have? Plan for the permanent worm bin to have 1 sq ft surface for each lb of compost-able garbage per week. 5# of coffee grounds, egg shells or veggie scraps each week = bin foot print of at least 5 sq feet.
The bin can be as easy as a large plastic storage bin with some holes drilled in the side or wooden or the more expensive commercial bins like 'Can-O-Worms'. I have a book with lots of different plans and options for your viewing pleasure this weekend.
The bin should stay in a cool place like a basement or garage-they prefer temps 59-77 but will still work (but more slowly) at 50. They really do not like temps in the high 80's and up. Basement works best if you do not want them to freeze out over the winter.
I should be receiving the redworms in the next day or so and Saturday we can set up your temporary bins. The weather looks cooperative and there was NO mud last weekend, in fact it was much, much too dry. We are going to attempt our first overnight in the camper saturday night (IF I can get organized enough). Have a great week! Kris
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Hormones and Mood
The last of the ice in the woods
After some reflection and alot of reading, I have come to understand my extreme mood swings a little better. In the span of a day I went from hopeless, anxious, mad as hell to calm, energized, enthusiastic. All I needed was my period. This has been a pattern I never picked up on because some months I am fine. If I am exercising and relatively low stress I don't fall apart. There is even a name for it PMDD-premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
There is some interesting info out there on the relationship between estrogen, progesterone and cortisone. Biology is SO cool. The human animal is such a finely tuned machine and then we do things like caffeine and HFCS and hydrogenated oils.
Rose and Christy both have my excited to share the view from my home with you. There will be two 'homes' to view: the suburban house (the home to my body and mind) and our rural escape-my Dad's place (the home to my heart).
We just spent two days of our spring break at ArkWorks Farm and I realized that I cannot be torn between homes. We had planned to split our time this summer between house and camper, with my main gardening efforts at the farm. As much as I love it there, I can't do this-I will be setting myself up for frustration and stress. I can be happy at either place, but not both. We need to choose-the yardstead or the farmstead, I can't and won't try to do both. So another round of discussions for DH and I. This is important, and is worth going over again and again if needs be.
After some reflection and alot of reading, I have come to understand my extreme mood swings a little better. In the span of a day I went from hopeless, anxious, mad as hell to calm, energized, enthusiastic. All I needed was my period. This has been a pattern I never picked up on because some months I am fine. If I am exercising and relatively low stress I don't fall apart. There is even a name for it PMDD-premenstrual dysphoric disorder.
There is some interesting info out there on the relationship between estrogen, progesterone and cortisone. Biology is SO cool. The human animal is such a finely tuned machine and then we do things like caffeine and HFCS and hydrogenated oils.
Rose and Christy both have my excited to share the view from my home with you. There will be two 'homes' to view: the suburban house (the home to my body and mind) and our rural escape-my Dad's place (the home to my heart).
We just spent two days of our spring break at ArkWorks Farm and I realized that I cannot be torn between homes. We had planned to split our time this summer between house and camper, with my main gardening efforts at the farm. As much as I love it there, I can't do this-I will be setting myself up for frustration and stress. I can be happy at either place, but not both. We need to choose-the yardstead or the farmstead, I can't and won't try to do both. So another round of discussions for DH and I. This is important, and is worth going over again and again if needs be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)