...I have hit it and hit it hard! I have gone from suburban professional to local food producer and i know now that i have stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire!! We just rounded up our 75 meat birds and taken them to the processor, the 12 pigs have only 5 weeks left with us, the second batch of meat birds are in the brooder-2 1/2 weeks until they go out on grass. My 8 layers are reliably giving us 3 1/2 dozen eggs per week and there are 25 baby layers growing up in their tractor on pasture. The three calves are trimming the pasture down nicely and are VERY low maintenance. My (human) girls are in piano lessons with a flurry of ortho and MD apts coming up. My garden is growing like crazy- we have had lots of rain and heat- i can almost find the cukes between all the pigweed :). Dad has been wondering if I will come over to pick raspberries- and i really want to but... I.CANT.DO.THIS.ANYMORE!!! I (mistakenly, naively thought staying home would be bucolic, idyllic, just like all these other blogs I read) Not so much.
If we are to be a income producing farm, I need to do something much much differently. Or I need to just be a homesteader and produce enough for my family. I cannot farm like a hobbyist.
I love love love it out here. I love caring for these creatures. I love seeing animals acting as nature intended. I just cant do it for 12 hrs a day 7 days a weeks, etc etc.
balance balance balance- i'll let you know when i find it!
2 comments:
I'm so sorry you are feeling so overwhelmed. I know there are many, many times I feel like I bit off more than I can chew and I'm not even doing this for income. Are there any other income producing farmlets you can get advice from (I'm thinking All-natural Mama at Wishful Acres-- Penny) to see how they do it?
I too wonder about those blogs where everything always seems to go smoothly and there are no weeds to be seen. They make it seem so easy.
Hang in there.
Judy
Hi there - sorry I haven't been around for a while, seems we reversed roles somewhat as I have been chasing cash more than chickens . The situation you are in is a hard lesson to learn but you must look at it from the final result backward - for us it was a no brainer it is smarter and more viable to raise food for us to eat instead of raising food to convert to cash - cash is easily got in a professional way where as the energy and cost outlay for a two person farm operation is impossible to profit from - living in the country it is so easy to forget that our time is worth something too - we only raise what we eat and what our critters eat to me this is the only way to not be a slave to the farm - don't be so hard on yourself this is like a crash course in farming and balance and moderation for you - you will soon see things in a new light, the burden will be lifted, the relief great and next year will be a piece of cake! catch up later, chin up you are feeling exactly what you should be given your situation - now you can cut back with reason and without guilt and not be so demanding on yourself, you are still ahead of the pack and the learning curve - of course I am just saying lol - peace
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