Lessons learned on this adventure:
Raising six children and running a full farm while helping run your husband's business is difficult, but doing those things AND blogging is somewhat impossible.
But almost every day, I think of little lessons I've learned and try to get them in writing. Here are a few that randomly come to mind on any given day. It's a compilation in progress.
1. Appreciate your food. If you had ANY idea the amount of time and dedication that went into raising a quality food product, you would probably be happy to pay 10x what you're paying now.
2. You can never have enough 5 gallon buckets.
3. Always save the wire from the bales of stray and hay. You will always need them.
4. No matter how secure you think a fence or a gate is, it's not.
5. Gardens DO grow better in straw bales.
6. Children can be amazing helpers on your farm. Just give them a task they can do, and they'll feel empowered.
7. Every kid should have a well broke pony. It makes riding the bigger horse easier.
8. The barn cat is king. He'll prove to be the most useful animal on a farm.
9. No farmer should be without a hot tub or spa tub in the bathroom. Or no person, really.
10. Farmhands are the best. Anyone willing to help work holds a special place in my heart.
11. You can learn alot by watching animal behaviors.
12. Immunizations and medications are not that hard to administer. And it saves a TON of money to do it yourself.
13. This one is two-fold. The people that sex the chicks at the local farm store are as accurate as the weatherman. This is a bad thing when you're paying for a hen, and the food for the hen, and you invest a good three months into your hen only to find your hen is NOT a hen. It becomes a good thing when June and July come, and everyone with a backyard chicken flock finds out that Pearl is Pert, or Charlize is Charlie.. They then come to live at our farm, and some become dinner.
14. TOM TURKEYS CAN BE MEAN. You have no idea how bad an attack from a 50# turkey can be. The worst part is the first attack. How many of you know how it would attack you? You don't. So when you are not expecting it, this ninja turkey jumps 4 foot in the air, does a few ninka twists, and next thing you know you're getting stitches.
To be continued...