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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Farm-side Chats

Consider this the part where I invite you in, pour you a cup of coffee and we get down to the business of getting to know each other.

Because, really, what's the fun of it otherwise?  And yes, before you ask, I have baked goods.  (A friendship without them is one I don't want to be a part of, thanks.)

So ask away good friends.  Post questions in the comment section and I'll be back to answer them in a day or two.

In the meantime I'll tackle a few of the questions that I get a lot.  So settle into the arm chair, refresh that cuppa-joe and imagine we're two buddies yacking away the dreary afternoon.

What made you decide to start living a farming lifestyle?
I can honestly say I'm not sure.  I think it started when I planted that first garden and just didn't feel like I was done.  My sister had moved from the city to a more rural section of our hometown and was getting chickens.  I was intrigued.  Then she sent me the book The Self Sufficient Life as a gift.  It painted a picture of a lovely bucolic lifestyle full of hard work and honest living.  It apparently appealed to the Amish in me.  Or the Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Whatever.



Is it as fun/rewarding/hard as you thought it would be?
Yes, and No.  Maybe.  (Pause while I add a large pour of Bailey's to my coffee.... Ahem)  It's about to get real here, people.  It's. Hard. Work.

We bought a pregnant cow and watched and waited as her due date came, and went.  And then went some more.  She was a whole month off.  That kind of mix up could give a girl heart problems.  Then her calf died in the birthing process even after a lot of coaxing and working and arms-in-a-cow-vag moments.  It was heart breaking.  Part of the investment in our cow was the hope to sell/eat her off spring thereby recouping our cost.   Instead we added a vet bill.  It was a hard drinking night if there ever was one.  Only I'm pregnant.  You can see my troubles.

But Veronica, you say - (sliding an apple fritter onto my plate, because really, how hard can life be with an apple fritter nearby?)  You have baby goats!  And chickens!  It can't be all bad, right?

No, it's not.  The chickens practically take care of them selves and while we're still not getting eggs (they'll be fully grown and ready to produce in the next month) - they are proving to be easy keepers.  The goat kids... oh those sweet little downy bleating piles of hope.  They make it all worth it.  So glad we're not goat eating people or I'd be all about the kale and vegetarian options right now.

So yes, it's hard work (look for a post soon on barn keeping featuring POOP! The Constant Companion!) but fun and rewarding and occasionally full of baby goats.

Now your turn, what deep dark farm related secrets do YOU want me to spill?


4 comments:

  1. So, tell me....what kind of cost is there in raising chickens? We are interested in it for the sake of the eggs. At what point do they lay? How often do they lay? Deidre gave me your blog info....I'm her sister-in-law.

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    1. Great questions! We've found chickens to be pretty economical. I'm planning to do an all about chickens post soon, keep an eye out!

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  2. Do you still have a garden? How big? How do you have the time with the little kiddos running around! You're such an inspiration!

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    1. No garden yet, in the works for this summer, though!

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