Sabine is doing well: the splint (not shown; she wears it at night) has helped straighten her right front leg…this pic was taken last Tuesday. She and her mom are integrated with the herd now during the day.
I often have believed the world would run more smoothly if it ran on MY schedule. And on MY schedule, things need to be done sooner than later.
I am not quite sure what happened (motherhood? the onset of middle age? moving to the country?) but my usual foot-stomping impatience has waned! What is it, have my expectations diminished? Have I just run headlong into that closed door called reality? Whatever the cause, I have accepted a lot more leeway in my schedule. “Take a deep breath and get over it” seems to be the new m.0.
The apiary. First hive has been split; we added two more this spring; and the first hive yielded just shy of 27 pounds of honey from the first harvest
Most of the pressure that I have put on myself revolves around getting food for my CSA people. It’s been almost two years now since I have transitioned from bartering my extras to running a year-long, once-a-week box scheme for my friends (6 full shares, one partial share). There have been weeks where I panicked that there wouldn’t be “enough” but I have set up the shares in such a way that flexibility is a key to it all. Yes, bread-salad-greens-milk product-eggs is standard per week, but weeks like this one (honey, chive-blossom vinegar, fresh sauerkraut, and no eggs) work for both me and for them.
I spent my Mother’s Day morning assembling the greenhouse frame. Ah, the life of the weekend warrior-farmer.
And that’s a good thing. I do have a life, after all, and can’t spend all my days puttering around the garden or whipping up bread and cheese in the kitchen….much as I would like to. Sometimes, work interferes with my farm life (actually, that happens quite often); sometimes, a child must be chauffered to and fro; sometimes, I just want to get away or just sit with my book. Having some flexibility built into the schedule is key to it all.
And with that flexibility? I don’t do nearly as much foot-stomping. I leave that to my crabby goats.
Willow and Sabine. Willow is a fairly patient mother, all things considered.
I have been contemplating a very eeny-weeny csa these days…Not sure if it would help me get rid of stuff more easily, or make it harder? This year I’m just going to observe and see what I have each week (extra). I can totally see how balancing it all would be hard, and I don’t even have half the space and critters you do 🙂
okay, back to digging!
you have SO fallen into my evil trap, Sara! hehhehhehhehheh
Sounds wise, and I’m learning in case I ever snap and do the CSA thing.
This is something I am always relearning. It’s hard to try to balance the work I want to be doing (farming) with work I need to be doing (my job).
I am hoping to someday get to the point where all my stuff is producing and I have a NEED to do a csa……..the only thing producing right now is the volunteer rose bush of knock out roses……sigh. 50 + trees planted so far and the deer only got 3 of them before we intervened with spray:) The berry bushes are doing fine, the grapes OK the potatoes look fantastic. the tomatoes, not so much. thanks for being the inspiration that keeps me going whilst i am learning!
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