When Enough is Enough

Let me just state that the very worst time or year to get seriously into farming is the dead of winter.  We’ve been working toward having a working farm operation for the past several years.  When all the things started to align for us to move and make it happen, we were excited.  As the Farmer, I was intensely interested in many different projects, and I made the decision that I was going to start many projects off and see which ones we liked, which ones pay, etc.

It turns out that farming isn’t easy, and keeping livestock happy through winter is challenging, especially when I’m also trying to be a wife and a mother.  I started to feel like all areas of my life were suffering.  My small kids don’t like to be outside in uncomfortable weather, but that’s when the livestock need me the most.  The end result is that I leave the kids inside while I rush out to do my chores.  The chores ALWAYS takes longer than I plan because when I do make it out into the weather, I make absolutely sure that I do everything I need to do before returning back to the warm retreat of the house.  This usually results in dinner being late, my husband being hungry and a very grumpy household.  Everyone usually gets sorted out and sent off to bed while I head out to do yet more chores.

I immensely enjoy every part of my life.  I love my kids, I love my husband and I love my livestock, but this past week when the sheep got sheared and they were naked and looking a little thin, I started to think that maybe it was time to cut back.

Today, I got to chat with my very helpful, very knowledgeable and very supportive sister.  We talked about the tough questions, like what farming I like to do, what is too hard and what will pay the bills.  I realized that I really do like all the projects we have going on.  Milking cows and goats is my dream job.  I love being a dairy maid providing milk to local families and having a wide range of dairy products in my own home (milk, cream, butter, cheese, etc.).  The sheep, rabbits and the goats provide quality fiber to a known fiber junkie.  The excess fiber can be sold, and each of these animals can be harvested at market weight for the freezer.  That leaves me with the market animals we have going on, pigs and chickens.  Both of these projects are challenging, but they are the most worthwhile.

It then dawned on me that it’s not what I have going now that is the problem, it’s the ideas I have coming up around the future.  It takes TIME and ENERGY and MONEY to grow and expand.  Having property is like taking care of another entity, it is a living entity that grows and needs care and attention.  It is NOT something that can happen overnight or even over the course of a year.

It sounds like that to be successful I need to slow down, take a step back and enjoy what I’m working on now.  Even though it would be fun to start 10 more bee hives this winter or milk 6 more cows, it is expensive, and it takes a lot of time, work and energy.  Perhaps the smart thing would be to enjoy the projects we have going, get really good at them and then look at slowly expanding into new projects as the years roll on.  After all, I plan to live and farm this bit of land for the rest of my life.  If I work on and finish all the projects this year, what on earth am I going to work on for the rest of my time here?

I’m working on putting together a “master plan” for now and for the future so we know where we are going and how to get there.  However, I think the most important thing is that I take one day at a time and enjoy the sweet beauty that comes from working with the land and animals to create our Cast Iron Farm.