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Tuesday, May 03, 2011

What am I Doing?

I always want to take the time to write and I always have things that I would like to share, but I'm not always able to put pen to paper (as it were) and get my thoughts down. That was what has been going on over the last week ... thus there have been no posts. It has been an eventful time though for me on the farm. The first lambing season is in full swing ... a calf was born ... the open-pollinated experiment is possibly coming together ... and I'm beginning to look at different options and methods of feeding the pigs.

But, the thought that has been on my mind the most lately is this one ... "What am I doing?" There are so many times throughout my farming day that I'm not sure what in the world I'm doing! I know that there was a point where I just needed to start "doing" instead of just reading all of the time, but sometimes I wish I was just still reading about farming and then sharing my opinions ... the doing always has me more confused, confounded, and oftentimes frustrated. And even when I feel like I've made a major accomplishment I realize that in "farming reality" what I just did was basically just another ho-hum part of farming, not a major accomplishment.

You see ... catching the calf to ear tag it, milking a sheep and helping her lamb figure it all out, disking and prepping the field for planting, making small repairs on the tractor, looking over and purchasing farm equipment, or wrestling a pig to the ground for a little doctoring ... those are all pretty much normal things for most farmers. In many cases they are things they've been around their entire lives. For me ... well for me each one of those things are a major accomplishment and at some point while I'm doing them I wonder to myself ... "what am I doing!?!"
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5 comments:

  1. Rich7:17 AM, May 03, 2011

    "...reading about farming and then sharing my opinions ... the doing always has me more confused, confounded, and oftentimes frustrated...what I just did was basically just another ho-hum part of farming, not a major accomplishment..."

    The difference between now and then is that you can voice opinions based on your experience instead of the experiences of others that you have read about. Opinions based on experience are the most valuable sort of opinions.

    Most of my confusion and frustration comes from things not working the way I expected them to work. Once I started to assume that everything I have read, believed, or done in the past was completely wrong, it was easier to explore all my options and my frustration levels went down.

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  2. Jean7:38 AM, May 03, 2011

    This post reminded me of how "stay-at-home" mama who homeschools feel sometimes. Yep, I'm one of these!

    I'm sure that if you would step back as to be able to see WHOLE picture, you then will see some progress. Think like that little blue train engine who said, "I think I can, I think I can,..." as he chugged uphill.

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  3. Steven Romero9:32 AM, May 03, 2011

    I have a question. How do you measure progress? I'm about to start down the same road you started 6 years ago, and I'm wondering if you can really measure your progress in a tangible way since you started.

    For starters I'd like to know if you can keenly tell a difference in your pastures now from when you started 6 years ago. Did all those books help you get there?

    And knowing what you know now, what would you have done different with regards to your fencing and watering systems, and your grazing program?

    Thanks.

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  4. Rich12:55 PM, May 03, 2011

    Out of curiosity, what are your plans for your OP corn planting?

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  5. Striptill4:36 AM, May 05, 2011

    I am really impressed by you that your are quite take time for sharing your farming experience with us.
    I suggest you that you should research on your farming lands and plants by using new techniques and variety of plants to get some more extra experience.

    ReplyDelete