Drop Back Ten and Punt
One thing I’ve learned since my husband’s recent 8-day hospital stay is that we are not set up for either one of us to do everything alone. I don’t have his physical strength. He doesn’t either. That means a lot of our “contrivances” will need to be modified so that I can do the job by myself if I have to and he can do it with less physical strain. It also means a lot of other tasks need to be modified and/or re-assigned.
Most folks would think, no big thing … give the kids more responsibility. That works great if you have a yard full of teenagers. We have one who graduates from high school in May and is planning to go off either to college or the military. Our remaining kidlet is eleven and has her own limitations when it comes to physical strength so, once again, things have to be modified to something she could do alone in the event neither my husband or I are able.
Another thing I’ve learned is that the “Whole Farm Planning” thing would have been better done at the onset of all this. It is important to do at any stage and important to re-do on a regular basis, but in our case it would have put us in a better position than we are now. Further, it would have given us a better idea of who in the family is fully committed and to what parts of the operation they’re willing to make that level of commitment. It would also be an eye opener to each member of the family’s planning team as to how we individually feel about certain aspects.
Lastly, I learned a lesson on organization and about my female ancestors. How in the world they managed to hold things together is beyond me, and they have my utmost respect.
One thing is certain … whether you’re thinking about taking up farming, you’ve just started farming, or you’ve been at it for awhile, get your house in order. Get it clean, do a major purge, and develop good habits for doing your inside chores efficiently and quickly.
Okay, back to work for me. Stay tuned, though. I have an opportunity to take you step by step through the re-reclaiming of our little farm and I am going to do my best to document as much of it as possible!