Tasks and Thoughts

Here are some of the things I’ve learned, thought, and done on the farm.

On Pruning

Plants want to just live and grow. They’ll send life any which way they can – towards photosynthesis, towards fruit, towards flowering, towards roots. They don’t care so much as long as they live or send out new life. We civilized humans have very different goals. We only want the plant to live insofar as it can produce fruit, for the most part. Which does require all of those other things (photosynthesis, fruit, roots, flowers), but in a much less chaotic manner. Pruning, as I’ve learned from these farmers, is about directing the energy where we want it to go while following the natural inclinations of the plant.

I’ve felt that way before. Like excess energy being held behind a chain link fence. Sparks flying in all directions, not sure where to put my energy or effort. Having someone come in to help you trim off the excess – close the holes, smooth down the edges, focus the energy – it definitely makes it easier to move forward and grow.

I’ve pruned grapes, raspberries, apple trees, plums, and pears. All a little different and all with their own tendencies. The thing I like the most about pruning is that it’s not something you have to do every day. In fact, you can’t. You do a little (or a lot) here and there, and then see how it grows.

On Fencing

I’m sure there’s a book somewhere on fencing. Probably a lot of them. But there’s a lot that goes into fencing that likely isn’t in a book. At least not the fencing book.

Rocks, for one, are an interesting obstacle. One that you can’t see or know about it until you want to dig right there. And then you have to decide, do I go around, do I move it, or do I take it out. Even after you make a decision, you still might have to make a different one, depending on your other constraints.

Have you every tried to walk in a straight line over rolling hills in a prairie? It’s not hard to walk in a straight line, but it is hard to walk the straight line you intended to walk. It’s like walking over the slowest rolling ocean. I don’t have my sea legs yet.

Thank the universe for electricity and fiberglass and steel. Three of us were able to put up miles of fence line over three days using hand tools and some vehicles. Little ole me was able to pound in 40 some posts. Set up the end fence posts that hold the high tensile line. After the first line of wire is on and tightened, you have a straight line, even across rolling hills and bumpy sod, to set the other posts. Then it’s just some back and forth trips setting up the other wire.

On Wildlife

I’ve seen deer, a painted turtle, Baltimore orioles, sparrows, gophers, Goldy (13-striped ground squirrel), dickthistles, bobolinks, redwing black birds, killdeer, Canadian geese, ducks, spittle bugs, dragonflies of many varieties, butterflies, moths, mud dauber wasp, bees, the biggest bumble bees ever, wood lilies, prairie rose, orchard grass, brome, plantain, prairie clover, sweet clover, Canadian thistle, blooming thistle, yarrow, spittle bug, Virginia creeper, quack grass, creeping charlie, deer flies, horse flies, mosquitos, wood ticks, lead plant, Siberian elm, horsetail, pheasant.

I think there is a larger variety of plants, animals, and bugs here because of the land management that is done with the cows. I think that the number of nasty bugs (biting flies, mosquitos, and ticks) feel fairly low because of the number of beneficial bugs and birds.

I haven’t walked in the corn fields next door, but I’m going to take a wild guess that there’s just a lot less life in general.

On Parenthood

Parenting feels like a job that we take on when we have a kid. Parenthood feels like the new identity that we incorporate into ourselves when we have a kid.

Years ago, Isaac and I knew we would homeschool our kids. We knew that we wanted one or both of us to be able to be home with our kids 100% of the time. Knowing these things made us look at the world and our future differently. I started working my way towards jobs that I could do part time, from home, or with a kid in tow. Isaac continues to work towards the same thing in his career. We both have worked to alter our lifestyle so that we can survive on one income and an increasingly smaller income. And somewhere along the way we saw farming as a way for us to produce more, purchase less, and do work with kids in tow, at home, where the world is their school.

The past 30 days, working with Chloe on my back, have been amazing. I have felt more balanced in my identity as Mom. (I’ve spoken about this before, but I’m still understanding it, so this won’t be the last time I talk about it either.) I don’t feel like I’m ignoring her when I’m working in the field, but I do when she’s playing and I’m on my computer. Granted, that may be because I’m not always doing valuable work on my computer – scrolling Facebook, ignoring schoolwork, reflexively looking to be entertained or enraged by something someone else has done on the internet. I feel like I’m more attentive when we’re outside because we’re not in a climate-controlled environment. I have to pay attention to heat, sun, rain, bugs, et cetera. When we do come inside, she needs to move and crawl around and play and she’s more willing to do that on her own while I rest and get indoor things done. During the times when she stays inside with Isaac or when my mom watches her, I feel don’t feel stressed that I couldn’t “do it all” and am better able to enjoy the shared responsibility of raising a child.

Maybe some of these lessons just come with time. Maybe not. Either way I’m glad I’m learning them.

On Cows

I still love them. Check out Sacred Cow by Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolf. It’s a book and documentary narrated by Nick Offerman, portrayer of Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation.