Monday, August 19, 2013

Farmers?


These were some of our first babies here on the farm. Two of our Rhodes Island reds went broody this summer and suddenly we were not just chicken tenders (sorry silly pun) but chicken breeders too. Are we farmers now? Could I put that on my resume now? I hope to never write another resume in my life, but the question remains. Am I a real legitimate farmer now? And if not now, when is the deciding moment? 

We moved to our 'farm' in February of this year. When we got here it was simply a house in need of some TLC, on a substantial piece of land also in need of much tender loving care. The only critters that were here were dispatched quickly by my queens of the jungle house-cats Trixie and da Vinci. Was it a farm then? When did it become a farm? Early in the spring we added chickens. A feeling of legitimacy came with establishing a flock of chickens. Chicken farmers, check. We lost about half our flock to a fox. Chicken farmers uncheck?  

We put in a garden. My partner suggested we keep it reasonable. After all we have a newborn baby, a toddler, a 5 yr old and an 11 year old (there's more btw, those are just the little kiddos)- they're all home-schooled, a couple still in diapers, a couple still nursing. I heard him say it, I'm just not a fan of being reasonable. I had the gentleman with the tractor plow a 40' x 40' plot and then another 10' x 20' for good measure. I bought so many seedlings of so many varieties, but only got around to planting about half. Squashes, tomatoes, corn, blueberries, peas, all sorts of yummy stuff got off to a decent start. Farmers, check. Summer came, and like a line in one of my favorite Prince songs, then the rain came down down. The weeds came up, life got busy and well maybe once again, farmers uncheck. 

Geese came next. We started with 2 little goslings that could sit in the palm of our hands and swim in our bathtub. An accident took one and that fox took the other. Goose farmers: uncheck. We replaced them with two pilgrim geese, a heritage breed that I really love. They've grown so quickly. They now race around our yard with their massive wings flapping. They look like kids playing airplane. Still too young to lay eggs, but yes I suppose we are geese farmers, check. 

Our adventures in farming have continued at much the same pace. We added rabbits. Every last rabbit escaped because I didn't inspect their temporary home well enough. I caught 75% of the escapees. That's right I caught them. I am a rabbit wrangler now, and yes a rabbit farmer. 

We have more planned, so much more. A horse is going to be joining our crew in two weeks. Rabbit babies should be making appearances in nest boxes soon. There are eggs in the incubator. A better-late-than-never fall garden is going in the ground this week. I want to add quail, ducks and guinea fowl before the summer is over. I really want to add cows in the spring. I think this must be what farming looks like. We make plans; some will work and some won't. We learn, we revise and we grow. 

Farmers, check. 
  

 

2 comments:

Donna said...

Sounds like you are a farmer to me!

Sarah said...

love it sounds like fun!!