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8:43 am
November 11, 2010
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Getting ready to head to the city and do a shopping trip. We only go in every couple months or so (it is such a bad road…180 miles, 7 hours) so we really stock up. It feels so great to be crossing stuff off the list that I don't have to buy anymore! Cheddar – x'd out, mozzarella, ditto. Butter, nope, yogurt, cream, nope, nope.
It's all about the cow. 
9:32 am
February 10, 2009
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I'm quite jealous of folks that can have a cow! That sounds great Mamajoseph! And since you do live so far away from [major] shopping, you having support to keep up with the milking is another plus. I'm sure by trading errands for your neighbors while you're away, your animals and garden will be well looked after too. Picking up a few necessities for your neighbors is bound to be a welcome help to those who help you!
This is why I dream of living in a place where there are others right nearby who share the values, chores and benefits of a farm set-up. Sounds horribly like a commune doesn't it! Makes me cringe because of the old 60's stereotypes, but I don't see how I could do it totally by myself with all the other pressures and responsibilities in my life. A neighbor or three who could all share some of the work, who could all trade off on helping like once was more common. Perhaps sharing the milk and milking of a cow and feeding other livestock etc so people could go away for a weekend or a vacation. It sounds wonderful but also can get OH so complicated too… ah well.
You're having a local herdsman who is able to care for your cow benefits both of you so much, and I'm maybe guessing here, but such a set up based partly on his pay does benefit you both, but also on mutual respect and compassion and care for the animals is ideal.
Hooray for smaller shopping lists!!!
10:25 am
October 31, 2010
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I'm jealous too 
1:27 pm
November 11, 2010
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Buckeye Girl, you are so right! We have the best of both worlds. A cow and someone we can pay to do a lot of the work in taking care of her. Really, we have 2 cows and are currently (because of rains and more grass) getting 5 liters a day between them. Not what you'd get from a real dairy cow, but plenty for us.
Think I'll go pour myself a glass of cold milk! Man, if only I had some Cheerios! 
9:08 pm
December 14, 2010
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I grew up on a subsistance farm. And you must consider it as a way of life. We milked twice each day, everyday. You planned your day around your chores. No matter what you wanted to do, being home in time for the evening milking was an absolute. Being up in time for the morning milking and then school was never optional. The barn needed cleaning everyday. The pigs needed to be fed and the chickens needed to be tended and the eggs gathered. The gardens needed hoeing. Crops needed to be picked, hay needed to be cut , raked and bailed and put into the barn. There were six kids that could deal with this while dad worked as a machinist twenty miles from home.
Tell me where the romance is in that.
10:40 pm
January 17, 2011
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"Tell me where the romance is in that."
Sitting down to Sunday dinner w/fried chicken (from the hen house), mashed potatoes (from the garden), gravy (milk from the cows) , bread (from the wheat field), butter (those cows again), fresh green beans (or canned)(from the garden) & strawberry shortcake w/REAL whipped cream! The strawberries were wild growing along the railroad tracks & the shortcake was homemade and those cows just keep popping in there! Or apple pie (from the apple tree) and homemade ice cream….you guessed it…those cows again!
Then laying on a blanket in the front yard after dark figuring out what stars were which! Or on a cloudy afternoon and seeing "things" in the clouds. Or flying kite in the pasture cause there weren't any trees to catch it & you could run a long way! 
Or if it was nasty out…playing cards at the kitchen table or chess or checkers!
Aaahhh, the good old days! 
11:05 pm
December 14, 2010
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Dream on and read the John Grisham novel The Painted House.
3:08 am
November 11, 2010
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Ross, things always sound more romantic than they actually are. Done correctly, a farm is lots of hard work and it sounds like y'all did it all! Lots of folks think living in Africa sounds all romantic and adventurous. Can be, but its also plenty frustrating at times, too. Mainly, I guess, "life is what you make it" or, perspective is everything. Is it poop or fertilizer?
8:23 am
December 14, 2010
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When it is in the garden it is fertilizer ,when you are forking it into the wagon it is poop. Scraping out a winter's worth of chicken droppings from the hen house floor each spring can make you wonder if 2 dollars a dozen for the eggs you sell is enough.
8:47 am
February 10, 2009
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Well, I have seen places where farming is romanticized, but I don't see it here too too much. A bit perhaps but really, when people talk about cows here, (or lots of other skills, crafts or livestock) there's both the good and the bad represented. Fresh consumables of any kind or crafting skills too, there's a reasonable balance of the hard work, responsibilities, expenses and necessary planning and equipment too. Not just "Oh look, a pretty cow, I want one."
Not many of us here have such a romanticized idea of owning a cow Ross. It's hard to think that when Suzanne shows us the hard cold facts that cows don't milk themselves in every kind of weather imaginable. Including the mud, muck, frustration and just plain work as well as the wonderful cheese, cream, buttermilk, etc etc including the work to make most of those things. I'm pretty sure we all know all those goodies don't make themselves either.
We may be in love with wanting fresh milk and all the goodies that come with it for all the reasons like it's so good for our families, but it's not a romantic love.
8:50 am
November 11, 2010
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So true! That's why I say I have the best of both worlds; I can pay someone else about $4 dollars a day and have them do the chores! And that is giving twice the going rate.
8:52 am
October 31, 2010
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And….this is why I've AGONIZED 
over whether to get a cow. I remember something (somewhere 
) that said that only a fool "builds a building" without first sitting down and "counting the cost" …..
4:03 pm
December 14, 2010
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In the spring and fall when the thermometer hovers between 40 at night and 75 in the daytime and the skies are clear. Working a farm is enjoyable. But when it has been raining for a month and you need to get the spring planting done or when you got 18 inches of snow overnight and you still have to feed the chickens and do the milking. Farming can make you wonder why you didn't learn another trade. Today te thermometer has hovered above 100 and the humidity is high. the outside of the door to the house was wet with condensate because the outside dew point was lower than the inside temperature of the house.
7:59 pm
February 3, 2010
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This is one of my big concerns about the little farm I want. I would be perfectly happy to stay on a farm doing chores, as long as it wasn't too big a farm. My family, not so much. They all say they'd like to live in the country but I don't think they understand what "living in the country" means to me.
I was amazed when my husband and I first started dating and I watched his mom "make dinner". It meant a trip to the grocery store at least twice a day. Often more. I came from a home where grocery shopping was done on Saturday. If you didn't buy it then or raise it in the garden, you did without.
My people are all city kids. Husband was raised in town. My kids were raised in town. Son just got his license and is all about the driving. Me, I don't drive at all, hate shopping and would really love to be "stuck out in the wilderness" as my aunt told my mother that Mom was when she and Dad bought their cute little country house, three miles out of town, on a main road !, before we kids were born.
10:06 pm
August 15, 2008
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I agree with BuckeyeGirl that there are places that farming is romanticized and not so much here. I think the work is shown here clearly. Adding a cow is a life altering decision for sure. I think how you feel about the work involved and the amount of time that you are tied to it depends on how much you value the benefit that you get from it. Whether you are doing it for the income, family, health benefits or just because the economy is crummy, each individual must be serious about that commitment.
As for me, I want what Ross had and am on my way. I want to be a self-sustaining farmer. The goals for me are most of the ones I listed above. The thing that motivates me is that I do not want to be dependent on anyone for my livelihood. I have a list of things that have to be finished in order to achieve my dream. I have been checking them off for a couple of years. A cow is at the top of my list, but will probably be the last to get because of the commitment, and is probably a couple of years away. I currently work 50 hrs outside the farm(to finance it), have a seasonal bakery/ catering business(to build a following), and work another full time job on the farm(labor of love), but I don't shop at the grocery store for anything much so my expenses are minimal. The value of that is worth any work involved. Suzanne is a great motivator and doesn't hide the work, you see the frustration and all of the things that go with having a Beulah. I appreciate her hard work, her sweat and tears as well as the goodies.
It is all about the cow for me too. When I get the cow, I give my notice and retire. I am envious about your cow, mama.
10:19 pm
December 14, 2010
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Like everything else you must plan your needs and how to meet them. A cow produces too much milk for four people for 9 month each year and then you should wait for her to freshen again. So for part of each year you must buy milk or have two cows. In that case you must learn to make cheese or keep pigs. You have to provide hay for that/those cows during the winter. For a small family a milk goat is a better choice. Chickens are the same way you need enough but not too many. How many jars of veggies and fruit and jelly to put up each year. How much cash do you need for food, fuel, medical care, taxes, utilities, insurance. You can sew some of your clothes but many must be purchased. Being poor these days costs a lot of money. ;)
4:05 am
November 11, 2010
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I can see that the solution for everyone is to move to Kenya! 
We have 2 cows so we have milk all year. There is no winter, 
but we do have to buy hay during drought. The cows give a small amount of milk, so not overwhelming; enough for milk, cheese, butter and a little to give away during good times. Labor is cheap, so we can afford help and they take care of things when we need to travel. Friends are always ready to give you a chicken if yours stops laying! 
Okay, gas is about $5/gallon, and the power goes off a lot and the medical care isn't that great, but…uh, oh, there goes my commercial.
And really, I was just trying to see how many emoticons I could use in one post. I think we just passed silly-ville. Hope y'all have a good day!
1:26 pm
July 22, 2010
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Wow . . . a lot of thought provoking statements going on here . . . I love it! There is a certain amount of "farming romanticism" by the general public. Those of us who live it (or who HAVE lived it) know different. My adult daughter wanted goats & mini horses & chickens. Well, she got tired of them real fast. They eat, they poop & they need care! So much for her farming experiences! I had to laugh!
But, I appreciate the discussion going on here. My thoughts? . . . . Farm work, no matter what type, animal, crops, & even those of us who depend on hand crafts to help us get by, is the most frustrating, exhausting but REWARDING life you can live! And that's no matter HOW much farming you do – whether it is from a container on the balcony in the city or 100 acres & a herd of cows!
2:38 pm
December 14, 2010
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The largest farm in Harford county is 850 acres and run by two men. Until two years ago they had 350 beef cattle and grew all of the hay and silage needed to feed the herd. The cows need to eat every day and in the winter the grass doesn't grow in Maryland but is does snow. With a mile of farm roads to plow and and several bails of hay to feed and two or three wagon loads of silage everyday, the owner and one hired hand were very busy. They sold the herd last year and have 550 acres planted to grain and the rest is forest or hay fields. There was a helicopter spraying the grain day before yesterday and last week they hired a big spray rig to kill the nettles and thistles in the hay fields. There are six tractors to maintain and a dozen pieces of machinery to keep in good order. There is about ten acres of grass cut as lawn. Some times they can take off for a few days and go hunting or fishing.
3:41 pm
November 11, 2010
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I have a friend (also an American) who lives in the capitol city of Nairobi and has been wanting to get chickens for a while. She has a family of 5. They live on a large, walled compound with several other houses. Each house sits on a large, deep plot, but they are narrow and the houses are close together. She writes that she is taking delivery of 50 layers and 50 broilers! 
What is she going to do with all those eggs and all that POOP! Let alone all those chickens. I know she isn't going into business 'cause our Visas don't allow us to do that. I have 5 hens and 1 rooster and that is more than plenty for my family of 3. Mind you, I'd like to add some layers, but sheesh!
I'm going to visit her next week and show her how to make mozzarella. Can't wait to see how she's managing (or not!) all those birds!
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