Why we do this

I had the nicest email last night from a gal who somehow stumbled into my little blog and was taken back to her own childhood growing up on a farm. She ended her email with the words “You are truly blessed.” Thank you for the reminder, Laura.

We are blessed indeed, though it’s easy to lose sight of it some days when the cow has died, the truck needs a new what-cha-ma-giz-it, and the well runs dry. (Okay, only 2 of those 3 things happened this week. I shouldn’t even jest about the well running dry.) And since starting the agricultural entrepreneur class I’ve of course been hyper-focused on the business side of things – profit and loss, business plans, industry trends.

So I need to be reminded occasionally why we started all of this, 3 years ago with 4 bottle calves – for our kids. We want them to have the experience of growing up on a farm and all that it entails. Life and death, stewardship, self-sufficiency, hard work, appreciation for the simple things life offers. The experience of watching piglets being born (“I didn’t know that’s where they come out!” ~ Madeline). The experience of burying the dead cow. The experience of eating what you’ve raised and grown. There’s nothing wrong with treating this farm like a business. Lessons in entrepreneurship are worthy, too. We just have to remember when all things are considered to consider the intangibles as well. Those things that don’t have a place on a balance sheet – the beauty of chickens running about, of eating a large green pepper you’ve grown, of being able to run in the grass in a big circle screaming your head off just for the fun of it – need to be given the weight they deserve.

So you go for that 20 acres, Laura. Sit under that tree with your babies. Teach them all the wonderful things you know about growing vegetables and raising livestock. Their souls will be so much the better for it (and yours, too).