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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Do What You Can Where You Are

I had a wonderful day yesterday. First it was beautiful weather. Second I had a group of wonderful women and children from our homeschool group come out to the farm for a fun educational work type day. They all had loads of questions which was awesome. It was so nice to be with other folks who want to learn about taking care of themselves and doing something for themselves. Sometimes, I will admit I feel like an island all alone in my thoughts and beliefs surrounded by people who think I am a little on the nutty side. These women showed me that I am certainly not alone. Thanks ladies, you have no idea how much you gave me yesterday. Anyway, one of the big questions of the day was about space and getting started and how to start with something. My advice to anyone who wants to do something is to start small and start with what you can do. If you don't have a big yard grow something in containers, same thing if you are in a rental. We had one mom who will be moving soon, so one thing she can start doing is researching local farms where she is going that she can buy from. She can also start studying planting guides for the area that she is moving to. In other words, my advice to everyone yesterday was to start what they can, where they are. Whatever it is start doing it. It doesn't matter whether it is growing a few tomatoes in pots or a small salad garden with just a few things or researching what you want to do when you get where you are going for a full scale small farm. Everybody has to start somewhere and each small step, no matter how trivial it may seem, is a small step towards independence and knowledge. My second piece of advice is to do whatever works for you. Each farm and each family is different, circumstances change and life changes. What works for Joe farmer down the road may not work for you. For instance....My mom and I were talking the other day about the garden. I have managed to get a good tilth and topsoil built in my garden area by plowing and tilling in tons (yes tons) of compost. Now, I no longer want to disturb that so I am moving into a more french intensive type of gardening plan which will be permanent. My mom was a little distressed because my grandfather had always plowed and tilled each and every year. Plowing and tilling is labor intensive. I am the main laborer around here. I am getting older. I need an easier way of doing things. In other words, there are many ways to do the same thing and accomplish the same goal so find what fits you and your family. Take all the knowledge and experience from others that you can get, file it away in your knowledge bank, and use what fits. Do What YOU Can Where YOU Are. That includes where you physically are living and where you are in your life. When our children are little they require more time, which means less time for other things. When they get older we have more time for other things because they need us less for their physical needs. You don't have to do things just like somebody else does. You can do whatever works for you and your family. Whatever you do, do something. Blessings to all and many thanks to all the ladies and kids that were here yesterday. I had a wonderful time sharing with you all and look forward to doing so again in the future. Kat

1 comment:

Kelle at The Never Done Farm said...

Amen Kat,
Glad you had such a good day yesterday. :o)
We too are straying from tillage of the garden, as we educate ourselves further we see that all of the tilling has most likely caused our problem with bindweed that we suffer today. I'm not sure what French method is but we are moving to a more biointensive way of gardening using sheet mulching and as little disturbing of thoe soil and it's " critters" as possible. As you mentioned and I too am in the same boat of being the main laborer I'm looking to cut back on workload, not add to it!

Blessings and thanks for sharing your experience and ideas.