Family Life

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Adventures in Childhood

Let me put together several recent conversations I had with my kids into a single narrative.

“Dad, what did you study in college?”

“Well, I majored in Biology…though I have a liberal arts degree.  That means I took more classes than I could have, with a wider focus than you might suspect but still spent 40 hours/week dissecting dead cats and sharks for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy.  I also had a job on campus caring for animals in the Biology department.  I raised rats and mice, cared for the snakes and lizards and cleaned the salt-water aquariums.  But mostly I tried to convince your mother that I was the right guy for her while working several jobs at once so we could finish college with minimal debt.”

“Snakes?”

“Well, yes.  But also salamanders and frogs and turtles.  In fact, when we look through Tom R. Johnson’s book, “The Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri” I have observed or collected nearly everything pictured short of the toads that are only common in Western Missouri.”

“Yeah, but…Snakes?”

BlackSnake

“Yup.  Snakes.  Lots of them.  Most of the snakes that live here are safe to handle and, if you are careful how you act around them, actually seem to like it.  To them, you’re just a warm tree.  Tom Johnson’s book indicates that there are probably 3 Prairie Kingsnakes for every acre.  Now, to be sure, ask me before you go picking up snakes.  There are a few around here that can really hurt you and one you may be allergic to.  Here, hold this Prairie Kingsnake. ”

“Where did you find it?”

“The neighbors are cultivating their field to plant beans.  That ruined his habitat so he was crossing the road looking for a new home.  Since we have acres and acres of grass he’ll probably find a home here.”

PrairieKingsnakeAnd that’s how it goes.  We talk about stuff.  We go out and do stuff.  We take pictures of stuff.

Butterfly

Beyond the wildlife, there’s cool dead stuff out here too!  My cousin’s bull died in the creek two or three summers ago and with the recent rains the bones resurfaced.  It’s an exciting time of discovery…and work.  They dig for cow bones in the creek bed then haul them over hill and dale to our back porch.  I think they want to re-assemble them…like I need a bull skeleton in my living room.  Hmm…let me know if you want a cool bull skeleton in your living room.  We haven’t found the skull yet.CowBones

But it’s not all work.  Sometimes it’s just fun to get wet.CreekSwim

Or pick up a dead frog.  Whatever.

DeadFrogMoving out here wasn’t necessarily the best financial decision we could have made but none of the children in our former subdivision have excavated cow bones from a creek bed.  I drive a long way to work each day.  I think it’s worth the sacrifice.  Maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe my kids will be in therapy after years of helping butcher chickens, swimming in creeks, fighting off ticks and going potty in a bucket.  Who knows.  Maybe they would have been in therapy if we had lived in the suburbs and taken them to ballet.  At least they will be physically strong and healthy as they sit on the therapist’s chair.  Maybe they’ll give the therapist something interesting to listen to for once.  There is the very real possibility that my kids will be able to handle what life throws their way…that they will be well-adjusted, thoughtful, caring, curious, intelligent men and women of God who don’t need a therapist, just a little time for reflection in the woods.

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Regularly Scheduled Simplification

There is only so much I can ask of my wife.  She is intelligent, beautiful and strong.  She cooks, cleans and cares for all 5 of her dependents (including me).  She teaches the children.  She washes, sorts and boxes the eggs.  She runs her own business, continues her ongoing education as well as that of the children and keeps the farm running when I go sit in the A/C at a desk job.  It is important that we simplify things as much as possible…that I stack the cards in her favor.  She is strong but she has a hard time moving chicken tractors.  She is willing to work hard but tires out long before I do.  There are only so many hours in a day and I can’t expect her to be able to do everything I can do.  So we have to simplify.

Milking

What do I mean by that?  Recently we took possession of 6 new heifers.  Now, six heifers doesn’t look like much on paper but it’s a whole new deal for us.  Rotational grazing.  Mob stocking.  Hoping and praying that the green stuff growing in our fields is appetizing to our hooved animals.  We have to learn how to move fence, how to move the water tank, how to troubleshoot shorts in our fencing, how to watch for problem weeds and to monitor how full the cows are.  Again, on paper, no big deal.  But in real life, learning all of that all at once is a bit daunting.  Learning all of that while keeping the food cooked, the dishes washed, the laundry folded, the kids educated and the business growing is pretty rough (though she does it all while looking great).

Sunshine

So we simplified.  We scheduled our production for the year and made sure several things were finished or on break before the heifers arrived.  The broilers are in the freezer.  No more chicken tractor chores.  The pigs went to market.  No more planning and moving pig pastures…or working pig pasture recovery into our grazing schedule.  We planned ahead, knowing our spring is busy and staging things out so we could learn new skills away from the pressure of existing skills.  Now, there’s no getting away from housework or even garden work but just freeing her from checking broilers 3-4x per day and liberating her from her fear of 300 pound hogs lightens her workload enough that she can afford to focus on these new heifers just when they need it without shorting the kids of the time they need.

Garden

The goats were scheduled to be sold in December.  The two females finally left today.  Once they are gone we’ll be down to just ducks, cows and layers.  Over time we’ll work pigs back into the rotation.  In the fall we’ll do another big batch of broilers.  In between we’ll attend Cattle Grazing University, Chism Heritage Farm campus, and the school of hard knocks.  Experience is a great teacher.  I have read every grazing book I could get my hands on and I’ve learned more in the last week than ever before.

Broilers

I think pigs, turkeys, goats and broilers all have a place in our lives, in our business and on our farm but we can only ask so much of ourselves.  At regular intervals we plan time to review what we are doing, why we are doing it and verifying that we are making the best use of our time.  Are we happy or just busy?  It makes me happy to see the pigs run in the pasture.  I enjoy butchering chickens with my children.  I love our goats.  That said, today I’m content to watch the cows eat grass.  They have a lot to teach me and require my full attention.

Most importantly, I have to consider my wife.  This is our dream, not simply mine.  I can’t abuse her with hard labor and expect her to remain enthusiastic.

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Playing in the Rain

RainyDay

Sunday we had a strong wind out of the South, warm temperatures and an inch of rain.  The kind of rain that paints the ground green.  Mom was out of the house so I took the kids on an adventure.

I have to cut wood.  Have to.  I have a number of trees down and I’m running out of time.  But we don’t have to kill ourselves cutting wood.  I told the kids I would use one tank of gas in the chainsaw while they dragged limbs and stacked firewood and then we could have some fun.  Well, we had fun the whole time.  Dripping, soaking, pruny-fingered, wet sock fun.

Our chores behind us, we tromped off through the pasture to the branch to see how deep the water was.  It was deep.  And swift.  Normally the branch is just a trickle.  It’s the weak point in the fence that the neighbor cows use to come steal food.

Branch

We threw sticks in the water and watched them float away.  We probed the water to see how deep it was.  I warned the kids of the danger.  The youngest fell in anyway.

I have a million things to do.  I don’t have time to splash through the puddles, exploring pastures I have played in my entire life but if I don’t do this now, when will I?  The farm is a family experience…I have to experience it with them.  That’s kind of the point.  I can sacrifice sleep to get the taxes finished.  The kids won’t wait.

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Anything…not Everything

Oh, I could take this post a lot of directions.  A lot of directions.  I’ll start with generalizations then make this about farming at the end.  I pinkie swear.

We are very fortunate.  Very blessed.  I have always had at least one job.  In college I worked at McDonalds (everybody should work food service!), polished floors overnight at WalMart, mowed grass, worked in the labs and greenhouses on campus, did an independent research project, worked construction and did odd jobs anywhere I could including painting little toy soldiers for some hobby shop in Indiana.  Having hit the bottom of our checkbook several times and being too proud to ask our parents for cash, we learned quickly to spend less than we make.  We play strong defense with our cash.  We are a one-car, no cable or satellite or TV at all family who don’t send their kids to karate, ballet, gymnastics, swim team, baseball or even scouts.  We budget carefully making sure we distinguish between wants and needs.  It was only recently decided (after lengthy discussion) that a no-contract cell phone was a need.

And now, after years of sacrifice, I am at a place in life now where, thanks to the miracle of credit and a near-perfect credit score, I could buy anything I wanted.

Anything I want.  But not everything I want.  I can’t afford everything I want.  I have to be selective.

Now, I already understood that completely without really giving it any thought.  In fact, it wasn’t until I heard my parents discussing a similar topic that I realized what it meant…how simple yet profound it is.

Let’s make a list.  First, I need to buy another 40 acres…and soon.  I need cattle to help generate revenue and keep the grass mowed and the pasture fertilized.  I need a new perimeter fence to keep the cattle contained when a deer runs through the paddock fence.  A milking parlor would be nice.  OOH! and a bobcat!  Heck, an excavator and bulldozer would do wonders for the landscape and future water supply.  The barn needs some repair…well, quite a bit actually.  The yellow house needs…well, let’s just skip that.  My house needs to be skipped too.  The machine shed should be replaced.  A real garage would be nice.  Sure would be convenient to buy a few thousand trees instead of collecting and sprouting the nuts.  A walk-in freezer would be a life saver but would probably require a backup generator.  And once the farm starts shaping up wouldn’t it be nice to buy that piece of ground just across the fence?  Or a place to snow bird in Florida?  Or even just a second vehicle?

But we can’t do it all.  Even if we could, we shouldn’t do it all.  I have a limited amount of money and a very limited amount of time.  I have to get the most bang for my buck because I can’t have it all.  Each day I make decisions and live with the consequences.  There is no time for second guessing.  I just have to go.  When I make wrong choices I have to work extra hard to make those bad choices work out anyway.  There is no looking back.  I just have to do it…whatever it is.  If I could have everything…if I could do everything then I could do it right.  But I can’t.  I just do the best I can with what I have.

And that’s enough.

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Who does the Heavy Lifting?

Who does the heavy lifting around here in the winter?

Not me I’m afraid.

Right now, a typical day for me is to get up at 5, read my Bible, check email, shower, shave, eat breakfast, get dressed and head off to work at 6:15.  I do my job sitting at a desk in a climate-controlled environment.  I’ll read the book du jour over my lunch, work a few more hours and arrive home again at around 6:15 PM.  Then I spend the evening reading to and playing with the kids and discussing what happened on the farm that day.  Once the kids are in bed, I may have to go outside in the dark and cold to get a new toilet bucket, tomorrow’s supply of firewood or some other chore but mostly I just park my tookus on the couch with a book in hand until bedtime.  I go days without seeing any animals.  Keep in mind, this is the winter routine, not the spring, summer or fall routine.  There is no tookus on the couch ten months of the year.

Who does the heavy lifting on the farm in the winter?

Not me.

My wife wakes up with me each day.  Today we each dared the other to get out of bed first.  She was the first up.  She made two attempts to light the fire in the stove before calling me in to try.  She walked the dog.  Twice.  She grabbed two frozen chickens out of the freezer and packed my cooler with the eggs and chickens for today’s orders.  Most of the time she cooks breakfast while I’m in the shower though today she didn’t.  We pray and kiss then she sends me into the cold, cruel world.  Off I go, to be the family breadwinner.  Making money in the city, working hard for my family.

Cows

Somehow, while I’m gone the cows get milked, the pigs, chickens, ducks, goats and rabbits get fed and watered (not an easy feat when the high temperature is below freezing).  The kids are dressed, fed and educated.  Phones get answered, letters and packages get sent, dishes get washed, laundry gets folded, blog posts get written, eggs get collected and supper lands on the table just in time.

During growing season I’m normally outside for a couple of hours before work and a couple of hours after the kids go to bed.  There is just a lot of work to do.  This time of year, on weeknights I try to chill out making the most of my study time.

Who does the heavy lifting on the farm in the winter?

Not me.  Summer may be a different story but my wife shoulders the burden all winter.  This is no knock against my children who also help make things go around here but if not for my wife there would be no farm…just land and a house.

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Plans for 2013

Every year Julie and I write down our plans for the next year.  Plans change, priorities change, things come up but it gives us something to shoot for.  For example, we may say we want to put $X toward savings every paycheck, buy a milking machine, buy a shotgun and expand into a new market on the farm.  Every year the shotgun gets pushed off.  Like I’m supposed to be happy with the guns I’ve got or something.  We remain open to changes in our plans.

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
-Proverbs 19:21

Our 2013 list is not yet final but includes a shotgun (again), exercise our option on the remaining 40, fix the roof on the back addition, seed clover in the pasture, buy as many as 8 beef cows (shorthorns would be awesome!), set up a Facebook page for Chism Heritage Farm and a few other personal and financial goals.  I would also like to try raising quail this year, though they are not cheap and require a high-protein feed.  During our summer lull I would like to pick up 50-100 of them from our friends at Cackle Hatchery and see what it’s all about.  This will also be the year of planting trees.  I plan to plant many more trees than I cut down and I have to cut down a lot of thorny things out there.  But, though all of these things are good they may not be the best thing for me.  All of these are subject to the will of God.  I have no idea what tomorrow will bring.  He does.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
-Proverbs 16:9

Don’t resolve to lose weight this year or give up chocolate or promise yourself to write a post every stinking day to your family farm blog.  Avoid guilt-driven goals.  Consider things you can measure and actually complete.  Things you know you need to do but won’t if it is not written down somewhere staring you in the face every day.  Make plans that are their own reward.  Don’t congratulate yourself for losing 5 pounds by eating a cupcake.  Prevent yourself from mowing the pasture and lower your food bill by getting some cows.  Then lose weight by managing the cows.  Then eat the cupcake!

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.
-Jeremiah 29:1

We list out our plans.  We pray that our plans are inspired by God and not by greed.  We work toward our plans.  Sometimes God redirects our work.  Sometimes things just come up.  Even if you don’t believe in God, it’s far better to take a moment to think about where you are trying to go rather than allow yourself to drift aimlessly.  So here’s a quote from Alice in Wonderland for those who don’t share my beliefs.

The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good- natured, she thought: still it had VERY long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.

`Cheshire Puss,’ she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. `Come, it’s pleased so far,’ thought Alice, and she went on. `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.

`I don’t much care where–‘ said Alice.

`Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.

`–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,’ Alice added as an explanation.

`Oh, you’re sure to do that,’ said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.’

We maintain our plan.  We have direction.  We reference, update and maintain our plan.  We take steps each day to achieve our goals.  Even a little at a time.

What’s on your list for 2013?

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Merry Christmas

Thank you for reading our blog.  If you’re in the midwest, I hope you are safe and warm someplace cozy during the storm that’s coming through.  Maybe a book and a warm cookie in hand…even if Christmas isn’t your bag.

There’s no shortage of work to do here but we’re taking a couple of days to just relax with the kids.  Merry Christmas.

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Fence v. Winter Storm

What a mess.  What a total mess.  Cows out of their designated grazing area!  Fence isn’t shocking!  Nothing works and it’s near absolute zero after factoring the wind chill!  Thursday we had a winter storm blow through.  It began with a thunderstorm and 30 mph winds and sideways rain.  Lots of rain.  When I got in my car at 6:30 am to drive to work it was 54 degrees outside.  When I got to work at 8 it was 34 degrees outside and the wind had picked up to 50 mph.  Then it started snowing.  When I drove home in the late afternoon I followed a semi pulling a trailer.  The trailer was being blown by the wind and wagged behind the truck like a dog’s tail.

We didn’t bother bringing the cows in.  They know where the barn is.  They had been in the barn recently but they know better than I do where they are most comfortable during a storm.  They found a sheltered place down in a valley and hunkered down for the night.  We put a few obstacles out by the layers to give them some relief from the wind and noticed several chicken tractor lids had taken flight and nearly landed in the pond.  Goats were warm, pigs got a whole new bale of straw, ducks were just ducky so we told the kids to sleep downstairs by the wood stove, built up a big fire and went to bed early…praying that the power would stay on all night but ready if it did not.

The power stayed on but the cows got out just the same.  At milking time we brought the cows up to the barn to milk.  They were feeling ornery and walked the long way around.  Cows!  Once up, it was time to start looking at the fence.  The charger was ticking but not lighting up.  It was shorting out somewhere.  That’s the worst.

The place to start is to turn off half of the fence.  Part of my fence is pretty OK.  The other part is…well…servicable.  All of it is legacy fence, built by grandpa’s hired men or cousins of mine over the last 40 or 50 years.  I trust the newer part…mostly.  So I cut the switch.

FenceBlues6

As expected, this made no difference to the fencer so I knew which way to begin the long march around the combine shed, through the iron pile and back around the house.  Then I found it.

FenceBlues1

The fence was touching an iron corner brace.  This is one of the wonders of fences built by hired help.  Oh well.  New fences are in the works anyway.  I separated the wire from the pipe and continued my inspection.

FenceBlues2

Not too much fence to walk between break points.  Then I had to walk the strands of fence we use for the cows current pasture, checking at each rebar post to make sure the wire wasn’t touching a post.

Rebar Posts

There were a few problems to work out along the fence until the end.  At the end, the spools were supported by another rebar post but the wind, rain and gravity had knocked that post over.  I cheated by hanging the spools off of the perimeter fence.

FenceBlues4

Well, that’s what it looked like later.  I didn’t realize I created a new short on my own.  Nothing worse than fixing one short and creating another.  Had to walk back out to fix it.  That’s what I get for taking a shortcut early in the morning in the cold wind.

FenceBlues5

Back up to the fence charger and it was at full charge.

FenceBlues7

Now, I don’t want to pretend it was all work and I don’t want to say I was all alone out there.  I had help.  But what is the fun of having your own cemetery hill if you can’t sled on it?

Sledding2

So I made a few trips down myself.  The railed sled has carried me downhill for 30 years that I remember.  Dad would carry it up the hills because I just wasn’t strong enough when I was little.  That sucker gets heavy after a few trips.  Now I carry it up the hill for my kids.  Good times.

Sledding1

The storm made a lot of work for us today but it also gave us a chance to play before breakfast.  Hope the storm gave you something fun too.

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The Family Stronghold

You are the same today you’ll be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read. – Charlie “Tremendous” Jones

Well, Charlie, I just read the book and I’m different already.

We have been reading Bill Bonner’s Family Fortunes slowly over the past few months, taking our time, chewing through it and pausing to ruminate on concepts presented chapter by chapter.  I am the latest in a long line of family farming the same ground but, unfortunately, there is no family fortune.  We have eroded, North-facing hills, very little fertility and a couple of nickles.  We are lacking Bonner’s description of a council of family elders, a family bank and millions in cash and equity available for investment in coming generations of family entrepreneurs. I didn’t inherit the land I live on.  I am buying it with money I make, not money my dad gave me.  The only wealth I recieved to date from mom and dad was my faith, my work ethic and an insatiable desire to learn.  College was not a choice and was on my own dime.  Family sweat, not family cash, helped us reclaim the farm from the thorns and brambles and that’s where my dad has really contributed to the cause.  We have spent years clearing thorny things out of the pastures and fixing fences with years of work still ahead of us.  My job is to hold onto this land so the next generation can take the reins from me.  If I do my job well they will not only have the opportunity to inherit the ground, they will be getting something of greater value than I did.  That’s stewardship.

Bonner talks about the need to follow a well-worn path in business…doing something that others have already succeeded at.  We read and follow the examples of leaders in alternative ag.  He talks about how important it is that I not try to go it alone, that I work hard and take one bite at a time until I “find something that works before you run out of time, money and confidence” (p. 126).  He goes on to suggest a farm as possibly the ideal family business on page 141.

What is the ideal family business?  Hard to say, but it might be a large, diversified family farm.
Here’s why:

  • It is a difficult business, perhaps with relatively low returns on capital.
  • It requires active, on-site management.
  • It is physical, tangible, observable – and something to which people can become sentimentally attached
  • There is generally little liquidity, and a “liquidity event” is a very big deal.
  • The main asset – land – compounds in value without capital gains or income taxes.

What does this have to do with anything?  Our greatest assets are our children.  We work hard to teach our children right from wrong.  …that we are endowed by our Creator with certian unalienable rights.  To teach them when to speak and when to be silent, when it is appropriate to joke around, what topics are appropriate sources of humor and which are taboo and when to push the envelope.  We work hard and always put something away for a rainy day.  We think about what we feed our bodies and what we feed our minds.  We are careful about what sources of entertainment we choose and how much we allow ourselves to be entertained.  We love each other.  We value life.  We value community.  These ideas define us.  More to the point, they shape us and build us as a unit and create our family culture.

Though family culture could develop anywhere, Bonner presents that certain locations can function as an incubator of the family.  A place to hole up during a period of unemployment or just a place to relax and write a book.  I like these ideas.  Years ago I hit a crisis point that caused me to re-evaluate my purpose in life and, ultimately, forcing me to re-invent myself.  This happened in the home with my family beside me.  We stayed in our stronghold (playing Mario Kart Double-Dash!) for an entire summer together.  That house in town functioned as a stronghold for a time but, ultimately, it was too small for our needs.  We, as a family, felt a calling to grow beyond a garden and a couple of chickens.  Strangely, we find it to be easier to be involved in each others lives on 20 acres than on 1/8th of an acre.  We have common goals and interests but still have space for individualism.

StrongHold

Bonner suggests “Your stronghold should be a place where you can live almost indefinitely on local resources” (p. 302).  The stronghold should be well provisioned beyond just wine and firewood and it should be fully paid for.  If the goal is to have a refuge point during a period of personal crisis, you shouldn’t be worried about paying for it or what you will eat.  Well, we’ve got the firewood, a little food in the pantry and are planting fruit and nut trees.  Our efforts at canning food are increasingly successful and our gardens are better every year.  These things are nice but the big one in the list is just having it paid for.  Ugh.  We are nowhere near paying for the farm, though it is high on our priority list because it is difficult to do anything in debt.  Mostly, though, it’s because I want to leave my children more than a legacy of debt.

Proverbs 13:22 says:

A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

This house…this stronghold is our last refuge from the world.  The place we feel secure from whatever the world throws at us (including 50 mph snow storms).  If nobody else believes in us, if we fail at everything we have tried, when we are down on our luck and feeling blue this place is home.  This is not just the place where we hang our hats, it’s the place we return to after our long and weary travels.  The place we want our children to return to….their children to return to.  A place generations of us have come home to.  It is our stronghold against the world if necessary.

Our job, a job we have chosen, is to start from nothing on worthless (but expensive) ground in a worn out, drafty house with a leaky roof and build something lasting.  Our job, as a couple, is to lay the foundations of lasting family culture and plant the seeds of future wealth.  Time is on our side.  The overall goal has nothing to do with farming (or even money for that matter) but building a family.  This farm is just where it happens.

Obviously I liked and recommend the book.  Be careful reading it though.  It’s likely to light a fire under your tookus.

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Generalizing about Specialization

Specialization has made us all wealthy.  Cell phones, packaged meat, refrigeration…the dreams of kings!  All because of specialization.  Focusing on doing one thing very well and doing it repeatedly means I don’t have to do 50 things poorly.  I focus on doing what I do best and hire other specialists to manage the other things.  For example, I no longer turn wrenches on my own cars.  I hire a specialist.  Also, I am not my children’s dentist but I am my son’s barber.  By separating the duties of a roofer from those of a machinist from those of a cardiologist we end up with better roofing, more precise machining and a better chance of surviving when our lifelong assault on our heart becomes more than it can handle.  We are all better off because of specialists.

Generalization lends security.  What if I can’t get to a dentist?  What if I have to perform CPR on that stranger who wrecked his motorcycle on the road?  What if all the roofing companies are overbooked and nobody is available to put a roof on my house?  That’s when we rely broad knowledge and experience.

Everyone bridges the gap.  No person is 100% dedicated to their field.  The best cardiologist in the world is still a human the rest of the day.  She may also be a mother, a child, a volunteer or a welder by day and a dancer by night (she’s a maniac!)

I have to balance this out as well.  If I did nothing but my primary vocation from sunup to sundown I would make more money but I would be bored…and boring.  Well, more boring.  I really like what I do for a living.  It’s exciting, challenging and stimulating.  It is also air-conditioned and comes with a nice, cushy chair and a desk.  Though I don’t even get a cubicle to protect me from communicable diseases, I do have a desk of my very own. I am not the only specialist in my office.  The office is filled with specialists.  Each of us can create, fix, plan or manage our way to corporate profitability (though some get cubes!).

So far this hasn’t been a current events post about the farm but I’ll swing this back to the farm for you now.  I am a specialist in my career but my career does not define me.  I have traded away decades (yup, plural) of my life and a small fortune in training and books to gain the technical knowledge I possess.  Please understand, I take my job seriously.  I work hard to stay current on changes in technology.  That said, I am not my job.  The job is too small to describe me.  It’s just one thing I do.  I am not a specialist on the farm either.  Our speciality is pastured chicken but we also raise pigs, cows, turkeys, ready-to-lay pullets, mushrooms, garden vegetables, children, make tons and tons of compost, cut and manage our woodlot, and grow acres and acres of grass some of which we store in the barn for future use.  Each of these endeavors requires knowledge, practice, education and experience.  Because we do so many things I can only go so deeply into each one.  Why do I stop at 1200 broilers each year?  Because I am a generalist.  That’s all I can handle given our time constraints…for now anyway.  But the same equipment we use to raise broilers allows us to raise pullets for ourselves and for sale.  In fact, our fencing and chicken tractors can be used for pigs as well.  Not only am I a generalist, I try to utilize multi-purpose, non-specialized equipment.

I can set up, design and maintain your SQL Server database.  I can raise, kill and process chickens, turkeys, rabbits, ducks and pigs.  I am, over time, becoming a gardening and canning fool.  I can shingle a roof with the best of them.  I have flipped burgers, watered plants, mowed grass, designed landscaping, framed houses and traveled the length and breadth of North America (and Puerto Rico) training truck mechanics how to use software.  I have changed tires on everything from cars to semi-trailers to tractors.  I have changed diapers.  But I am not rich.  Were I to give up all this generalist nonsense and focus on my career I might be closer to “rich” but I do feel secure knowing we’ll eat well.

Forgive me if the world is less wealthy because I refuse to specialize.  I’m just having too much fun.  Besides, Heinlien said:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein