There are sacrifices in this life. The farm life, big or small, requires you to channel strength and perseverance you didn’t know you had.
Here are some sacrifices I experience on a regular basis:
social casualties- you know that moment when you mortify a vegan at a party inadvertently by describing the how to process chickens or how you finally got the pigs on the trailer for slaughter (yes I am an absolute ball at parties…well I only attend parties that don’t go past 9pm anyway );
bite your tongue moments-when people who obviously and proudly buy meat or eggs from the store but can’t understand how you could possibly raise your own. I have actually been told ” oh I couldn’t possibly eat an egg that comes right from the chicken.” Enlighten me : where else do they come from ???? (I can’t make this stuff up.);
financial missteps (I can’t call them mistakes because that gives my husband too much leverage) – times when you vastly underestimate how much animals will eat. We both have full time jobs off farm so making sure things stay reasonable and on track is important. ( my husband just snorted ) It doesn’t necessarily have to make us money but it does have to be free for us. So I sell the extra half hogs to friends so our meat works out to be free for us , give or take a bit if I get it smoked etc . Sometimes if it is a particular troublesome batch of meat hens , it may not work out. It costs us $11.09 for a meat-hen birth to freezer. Not much different than I would pay in the store. And not half as tasty. So if I can’t sell any extra and I need all for us , so be it. But it’s better the other way 😉 Hogs in particular are always fun for this guessing feed game when I first get them and every single batch, depending on the breed , is different. ( but, so darn cute!)
A brain that won’t quit – I literally dream of farming. I can’t shut it off : ways for us to do more here for ourselves (we already grow 80% of our meat on the farm and all our eggs) or to do things more efficiently. I have woken up out of a dead sleep to joyously realize I have a solution to tractoring my meat hens. I really hope I get picked for those sleep/dream studies. This stuff is gold but pretty sure would have earned me a diagnosis of some sort when I was younger. However, the downside is :it does mean I LITERALLY sometimes cannot shut it off. I get up have a cup of peppermint tea and jot it all down. Ridiculous.
Clothing- enter the farm color: non-white. It used to be white but will never be white again. I own tons of it. Many a pair of pants has been stained or ripped by my romping around the farm without changing. Occupational hazard. I buy all my clothes whenever possible second hand (it’s better for the environment as well -bonus ) Except undies….I deserve new underwear.
Now, none of these are complaints (unless I have to start buying second hand underwear then it’s on)
We chose this life ( well, I did anyway lol) I fully embrace the sacrifices that mean we get to treat every single animal we raise for our family with kindness, dignity and respect. And gratitude. Oh Lord, am I grateful! I’m grateful everyday for the small things in this farmish life.
Sorry my loyal readers for the gap in blog posts. It has been super, super packed logan, our oldest son, graduated; we hosted farm visits for schools; planted every chance I got in between rainstorms; finished homeschooling; 4H’ed our little hearts out, patiently are awaiting the arrival of grandson #2; and figured out some farm systems that needed tuning up. See above note about not being able to shut my brain off.
Bustling as it is, I always make sure I get a quiet tea in the morning to breathe and clear my head.
That is one sacrifice I am NOT prepared to make 😄
Love,
Jenn xx