There's a modern myth being supported throughout America today. It's the myth that farming is easy. I have many friends who have decided that since raising animals looks like fun on TV and in magazines, that they are going to give it a whirl. They see pictures of smiling families surrounded by fat and happy cows, chickens, ducks, sheep, goats, etc. They think that farming is as easy as getting some free animals on Craigslist and bringing them home. It's not that easy.
First of all, once you get the animals home you have to have somewhere to put them. I have heard many horror stories of people keeping animals in inadequate enclosures only to have the animals either escape and get killed or have varmints enter the enclosures to kill the animals. It is not usually mentioned in the glossy "farming" magazines that goats can jump over almost any fencing, cows can push through most barriers, and that not much stops a weasel from breaching a chicken coop. Most of my friends that brought their animals home to ill-prepared housing, wound up with dead animals in short order. It's not as easy as just getting the animals to your property and then letting them go to live idyllically with you.
Secondly, once you have secured adequate housing for the animals that keeps them in and varmints out, you must feed the animals. All animals need to be fed on a daily basis. Unless you have a large pasture situation with fresh, free flowing water all the time; you must feed and water your animals daily, if not twice daily. If you live in a location where snow is on the ground for weeks at a time, then you most certainly have to feed your animals daily at least part of the year. They cannot be expected to survive and produce through the winter without gathered forage and fresh water. When considering housing for your animals, you must also consider food storage and water accessibility. If you have hooved animals, then you must certainly have hay. Hay takes up a lot of real estate and is tricky to transport and store. My same friends that brought their animals home to inadequate enclosures, also brought them home to inadequate food and water supplies. The animals that weren't killed from poor housing, died due to starvation or disease related to poor food sources.
Third, animals cannot be expected to live on food and water only. Each species has health needs beyond just food, water, and housing. Chickens need to be dusted periodically for lice, they need to be dewormed occasionally, they need supplemental calcium, and they need the right combination of vitamins and minerals to produce eggs. Goats must be supplemented with minerals at all times, they need to be dewormed periodically, they have vaccinations that must be administered, their hooves constantly need trimming, and if they are milk goats they need to be properly milked every day, twice a day. People don't often think of the other things that go into raising animals beyond food and housing. When their chickens mysteriously die due to massive mite infestation or their goats die from worms, that is when they learn the hard truth about supplemental health care. They don't learn it from TV commercials and movies.
Lastly, animals are a lot of work. Beyond needing to be fed and watered daily, their enclosures must be cleaned periodically, their housing must be repaired, the water buckets need to be cleaned, and the list goes on and on. If you have dairy animals, you must milk them daily, twice a day, every single day. You can't skip a milking just because you have something else to do. This can spell disaster for any milk producing animal. If you have meat animals, then you have to get them from living animals to edible pieces of meat somehow. This takes a lot of thought and effort.
In conclusion, I would like to see more magazines show the true colors of farming. I would like to see people who have learned the hard truths of farming tell their friends and neighbors who want to get animals. All animals deserve to be treated well and ignorance of proper animal care is no excuse for the death of the animal.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Farm Stand Coming Soon?
I think I will try to open a farm stand this summer. I have property that is on a major road and it has an open spot that will fit a small barn or lean-to and a parking area. I would love to sell fresh eggs, produce, crafts, soap, canned goods, baked goods, flowers, and meat from the little stand. My neighbors could all pitch in and send in things to sell. It would be a community stand for locals to sell and buy things from.
My friend and I were talking about it this morning. Both of our jobs are currently in jeopardy with recent budget woes and threats of the company moving to Florida. Neither of us are in a situation where we can move to Florida, so we have to think of something different to do in order to survive. Our location doesn't have many other job opportunities, so both of us are facing possible long-term unemployment. We have decided that if we can start our own little business, that may be enough to help us not fall into a hole of debt and poverty. We are both crafty people with small homesteads. I have goats and chickens and make goat milk soap. She has chickens and cows and grows an enormous garden. We could both produce enough stuff to get a little farm stand going.
The farm stand wouldn't be solely dependent on the stuff my friend and I make/grow. We would also take in crafts and food from other local people and sell it there. It would be like a permanent farmer's market. There's many people in the area that produce more than they can eat and also make crafts on the side. They would jump at the chance to have a location to sell at. The selling could work on commission or volunteer time at the store. There would be no limit on how much stuff you had to bring to sell. It could be as little as a few dozen eggs, or as much as a weekly order of beef and pork. We could also get an ice cream machine and hot dog stand going at the same location. The only rules we would have about stuff for sale would be that it has to be grown locally or made locally. No importing of stuff from large distributors. No mass produced products (except for maybe the ice cream mix and the hot dogs). We would have to follow the laws and regulations regarding sales, taxes, and food preparation.
If I built a small lean-to / barn, that would be plenty of space to put up some shelves and tables to accommodate all sorts of goods. It could be like the larger farm stands that dot the Amish country. They sell all sorts of goods and produce with very little overhead. The stand wouldn't need electricity for the first few years (unless we had an ice cream machine or freezer for meat selling). We might even be able to get away with a dirt floor and only 3 walls for a while. If it worked and we made money, we could invest that money into flooring, running water, and electricity. Eventually the store could be open all year round to sell Christmas gifts and other products to year-round residents.
This is the plan for now. Even if I have a job this summer, I would love to start a little farm stand. It wouldn't have to be much at first, but it sure would be nice for my friends and neighbors (and myself) to have an outlet for our products and produce.
My friend and I were talking about it this morning. Both of our jobs are currently in jeopardy with recent budget woes and threats of the company moving to Florida. Neither of us are in a situation where we can move to Florida, so we have to think of something different to do in order to survive. Our location doesn't have many other job opportunities, so both of us are facing possible long-term unemployment. We have decided that if we can start our own little business, that may be enough to help us not fall into a hole of debt and poverty. We are both crafty people with small homesteads. I have goats and chickens and make goat milk soap. She has chickens and cows and grows an enormous garden. We could both produce enough stuff to get a little farm stand going.
The farm stand wouldn't be solely dependent on the stuff my friend and I make/grow. We would also take in crafts and food from other local people and sell it there. It would be like a permanent farmer's market. There's many people in the area that produce more than they can eat and also make crafts on the side. They would jump at the chance to have a location to sell at. The selling could work on commission or volunteer time at the store. There would be no limit on how much stuff you had to bring to sell. It could be as little as a few dozen eggs, or as much as a weekly order of beef and pork. We could also get an ice cream machine and hot dog stand going at the same location. The only rules we would have about stuff for sale would be that it has to be grown locally or made locally. No importing of stuff from large distributors. No mass produced products (except for maybe the ice cream mix and the hot dogs). We would have to follow the laws and regulations regarding sales, taxes, and food preparation.
If I built a small lean-to / barn, that would be plenty of space to put up some shelves and tables to accommodate all sorts of goods. It could be like the larger farm stands that dot the Amish country. They sell all sorts of goods and produce with very little overhead. The stand wouldn't need electricity for the first few years (unless we had an ice cream machine or freezer for meat selling). We might even be able to get away with a dirt floor and only 3 walls for a while. If it worked and we made money, we could invest that money into flooring, running water, and electricity. Eventually the store could be open all year round to sell Christmas gifts and other products to year-round residents.
This is the plan for now. Even if I have a job this summer, I would love to start a little farm stand. It wouldn't have to be much at first, but it sure would be nice for my friends and neighbors (and myself) to have an outlet for our products and produce.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
On achieving, over-achieving, and under-achieving
As I have gotten older, I have realized that I am slowly becoming less of an over-achiever and more of an achiever. I don't think there is anything wrong with this change, necessarily. I believe it comes as part of getting older and wiser. By wiser, I mean that I have learned the value of economy and efficiency as I go about my daily tasks.
When I was younger, I was definitely an over-achiever. I used to get up early, go to bed late, get to class early, leave class later, volunteer for extra projects, do extra credit assignments, study more than enough to get A's, play sports, cook regular meals, go hiking, climb mountains, bike long distances, and do anything that anyone asked me to - even if it meant dropping what I was doing to do what they wanted. Even though I was often blessed with a great sense of accomplishment after doing all these things, I was also blessed with a great deal of stress and feeling of inadequacy when I couldn't get everything done that I wanted to or that I was expected to. I had a tendency to volunteer for every odd job or committee leadership position that no one else wanted. I also had a tendency to take over for people that already had the leadership positions because "they weren't doing it right". This unfortunately left me with very little time to focus on what I needed to get done and left me very stretched thin by it all.
I also found that in my quest to be an over-achiever, I often worked twice as hard as others, only to end up with the same result. Someone else would do just enough to get by and be rewarded with exactly the same thing as me. Due to this, over the years, I have discovered that over-achieving can sometimes be not what it is cracked up to be. While it can pay off, it mostly is punctuated with lots of extra steps and duplications. I found myself taking up slack that wasn't mine to take up and worrying about projects that weren't mine to worry about. People began to expect that I would clean up after them and I began to resent that fact. Also, I realized that some of my well-intentioned over-achieving was found to be annoying by the very people I was so bent on trying to take care of. Some people don't want extra help from a know-it-all, over-achiever. Thus I have slowly started to drop my over-achieving ways.
Now I am focused on doing primarily the tasks that are truly mine to do and the jobs that are my jobs. I am trying to lose the desire to do things because no one else will. If they won't do them, perhaps they don't need to be done? If no one else will volunteer, perhaps no one should? I am trying to became an achiever, plain and simple. I want to use my time in the most efficient and economical manner to get everything that I need to done.
Now, let me get one thing straight, by being just an achiever this does not mean that I am becoming an under-achiever. Under-achieving is when someone purposefully shirks their responsibilities. An under-achiever is a lazy person who believes that some over-achiever will come along and take responsibility for their shortcomings (I used to be that over-achiever!).
Achieving without over doing it or under doing it can be a wonderful thing. It allows you the time to focus on what tasks are truly important for your happiness, while allowing you the freedom to resist tasks that won't add to your personal happiness. This may sound selfish, but an achiever should always consider other people's needs and wants without compromising their own. An over-achiever would disregard their own needs and wants for the sake of others'. An under-achiever would disregard others' needs and wants for the sake of their own. It's a fine line to balance, but I believe it can be done.
When I was younger, I was definitely an over-achiever. I used to get up early, go to bed late, get to class early, leave class later, volunteer for extra projects, do extra credit assignments, study more than enough to get A's, play sports, cook regular meals, go hiking, climb mountains, bike long distances, and do anything that anyone asked me to - even if it meant dropping what I was doing to do what they wanted. Even though I was often blessed with a great sense of accomplishment after doing all these things, I was also blessed with a great deal of stress and feeling of inadequacy when I couldn't get everything done that I wanted to or that I was expected to. I had a tendency to volunteer for every odd job or committee leadership position that no one else wanted. I also had a tendency to take over for people that already had the leadership positions because "they weren't doing it right". This unfortunately left me with very little time to focus on what I needed to get done and left me very stretched thin by it all.
I also found that in my quest to be an over-achiever, I often worked twice as hard as others, only to end up with the same result. Someone else would do just enough to get by and be rewarded with exactly the same thing as me. Due to this, over the years, I have discovered that over-achieving can sometimes be not what it is cracked up to be. While it can pay off, it mostly is punctuated with lots of extra steps and duplications. I found myself taking up slack that wasn't mine to take up and worrying about projects that weren't mine to worry about. People began to expect that I would clean up after them and I began to resent that fact. Also, I realized that some of my well-intentioned over-achieving was found to be annoying by the very people I was so bent on trying to take care of. Some people don't want extra help from a know-it-all, over-achiever. Thus I have slowly started to drop my over-achieving ways.
Now I am focused on doing primarily the tasks that are truly mine to do and the jobs that are my jobs. I am trying to lose the desire to do things because no one else will. If they won't do them, perhaps they don't need to be done? If no one else will volunteer, perhaps no one should? I am trying to became an achiever, plain and simple. I want to use my time in the most efficient and economical manner to get everything that I need to done.
Now, let me get one thing straight, by being just an achiever this does not mean that I am becoming an under-achiever. Under-achieving is when someone purposefully shirks their responsibilities. An under-achiever is a lazy person who believes that some over-achiever will come along and take responsibility for their shortcomings (I used to be that over-achiever!).
Achieving without over doing it or under doing it can be a wonderful thing. It allows you the time to focus on what tasks are truly important for your happiness, while allowing you the freedom to resist tasks that won't add to your personal happiness. This may sound selfish, but an achiever should always consider other people's needs and wants without compromising their own. An over-achiever would disregard their own needs and wants for the sake of others'. An under-achiever would disregard others' needs and wants for the sake of their own. It's a fine line to balance, but I believe it can be done.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
You know you live in the North Country when....
Time for everyone's favorite game: "You know you live in the North Country when...."
1. It's 20F and you remove a layer of clothing because "it isn't that cold out".
2. It hits 40F and everyone is wearing shorts.
3. It's sunny with clear blue skies and snowing.
4. It's -10F out and you think it could be worse, at least it isn't -20F.
5. It's -20F out and you finally put on your mittens because last time you froze your bare fingers to the door knob.
6. You're driving 55 mph in blinding snow and get passed by a Ford Focus.
7. Everyone passes the plow truck .... always, no matter where.
8. "A dusting" equals 3" of snow in 1/2 hour
9. The weatherman on TV says "and more snow in the mountains" and you know that means 6" - 12".
10. You automatically discount the predicted temperature on TV by -10F no matter what it says.
11. The snow you saw hit the ground in October is the same snow you see when it thaws in May.
12. It's okay to walk/drive/snowmobile on the ice of a frozen lake 24 hours after it was open water.
13. You actually can point to the "North Country" on a NYS map.
14. A hot date night in the winter is english muffin pizzas, a bottle of Jack, and Jeopardy.
15. You see more than two people walking through the mall with crampons on their shoes.
16. Winter is your favorite 8 months of the year!
1. It's 20F and you remove a layer of clothing because "it isn't that cold out".
2. It hits 40F and everyone is wearing shorts.
3. It's sunny with clear blue skies and snowing.
4. It's -10F out and you think it could be worse, at least it isn't -20F.
5. It's -20F out and you finally put on your mittens because last time you froze your bare fingers to the door knob.
6. You're driving 55 mph in blinding snow and get passed by a Ford Focus.
7. Everyone passes the plow truck .... always, no matter where.
8. "A dusting" equals 3" of snow in 1/2 hour
9. The weatherman on TV says "and more snow in the mountains" and you know that means 6" - 12".
10. You automatically discount the predicted temperature on TV by -10F no matter what it says.
11. The snow you saw hit the ground in October is the same snow you see when it thaws in May.
12. It's okay to walk/drive/snowmobile on the ice of a frozen lake 24 hours after it was open water.
13. You actually can point to the "North Country" on a NYS map.
14. A hot date night in the winter is english muffin pizzas, a bottle of Jack, and Jeopardy.
15. You see more than two people walking through the mall with crampons on their shoes.
16. Winter is your favorite 8 months of the year!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Truths of Winter
I have come to realize over the years that there are several truths to winter in the North Country on a farm. One truth is that there is snow and cold. Another is that it will be dark 18 hours a day and snowing the other 6 hours. Here are some more truths of winter farming that I have discovered:
1. A complete thaw will come 2 days after you've cleaned the frozen poo off the chicken house floor with a pick-axe
2. The smelly buck goat will escape his winter enclosure just before you have to leave to go out to dinner but just after you have put on your nice clothes.
3. The "freeze-free" water hydrant will freeze solid only when you are gone from the farm and a neighbor is doing your chores.
4. You will decide it is time to rearrange the fencing only after there's 2 feet of snow on the ground.
5. The spot where you have been dumping the ice from the frozen water buckets is in the direct path of where you need to push a wheelbarrow after you have a 5' tall mountain of ice accumulated.
6. You will need more hay in the hayloft only after you decided you didn't need to plow the road to the barn anymore.
6a. You will need more hay in the hayloft only after you realized that your husband/plow truck driver has been piling the snow in front of the hayloft entrance for 2 months.
7. The one tool you will need will be the only tool you left in the pasture where you were working before there was 3 feet of snow on the ground.
8. You will feel bad for the goats and leave them in the barn only to find that they escaped their pens while you were at work and spent the entire day out in the snow anyway.
9. That new rabbit you have been eyeing will come up for sale just in time for 4 feet of snow to be deposited on the rabbit hutch that was clear of snow all winter.
That's all I can think of for now. I am sure as the winter continues on, I will find more.
1. A complete thaw will come 2 days after you've cleaned the frozen poo off the chicken house floor with a pick-axe
2. The smelly buck goat will escape his winter enclosure just before you have to leave to go out to dinner but just after you have put on your nice clothes.
3. The "freeze-free" water hydrant will freeze solid only when you are gone from the farm and a neighbor is doing your chores.
4. You will decide it is time to rearrange the fencing only after there's 2 feet of snow on the ground.
5. The spot where you have been dumping the ice from the frozen water buckets is in the direct path of where you need to push a wheelbarrow after you have a 5' tall mountain of ice accumulated.
6. You will need more hay in the hayloft only after you decided you didn't need to plow the road to the barn anymore.
6a. You will need more hay in the hayloft only after you realized that your husband/plow truck driver has been piling the snow in front of the hayloft entrance for 2 months.
7. The one tool you will need will be the only tool you left in the pasture where you were working before there was 3 feet of snow on the ground.
8. You will feel bad for the goats and leave them in the barn only to find that they escaped their pens while you were at work and spent the entire day out in the snow anyway.
9. That new rabbit you have been eyeing will come up for sale just in time for 4 feet of snow to be deposited on the rabbit hutch that was clear of snow all winter.
That's all I can think of for now. I am sure as the winter continues on, I will find more.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Bloggin' Away Again in Vermontville
I am back. I had taken the blog down for a bit as I pondered my role as a blogger. Since my blog is mostly just junk that I make up, I decided that there wasn't much harm in reinstating the ol' web log and beginning again. I started to miss it, actually. I started to miss having a place to post random thoughts and wanderings in a more contiguous format than Facebook or other social media outlets. While I did continue to maintain my alter-ego blog Lucy the Goat (www.lucythegoat.blogspot.com), I found that I was denying myself a place to express feelings and other nonsense that came straight from me. Well, I am back and ready for more randomness. (I hope you are also ready).
Friday, September 17, 2010
It's Fall
It's fall even though fall doesn't officially start until next week. It's fall because it is cold and rainy out. It's fall because it is frosting in the mornings. It's fall because I have to wear a coat to do chores. It's fall because the apples are ready. It's fall because the goats are coming into heat and the buck is stinking. It's fall because the leaves are starting to change. It's fall because ..... it is!!
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