Some people get it whenI’ people like us get a little excited abuot the grass turning bright green in April. It means grazing season is geting closer and maybe that means the end of mud season. I’ve seen some mow their lawns and it really seems early to me, I am in NO rush to get the lawnmowere but I am super stoked about grass growing in the pasture.
I see some farms who just don’t get it have let their cows out to graze and to us this is a really bad move. Grazzing too soon damages the grass plants and the roots so much so that it can cut your grazing season in HALF! Been there done that and learned to tell about it it.
I can see a light green on the hillsides as trees start to leaf out, daffodils are in bloom and the dairy farms are speadiing the gross liquid manure.
Meanwhile we turned our compost piles last week and no odor there unlike the massive diesel sucking tractors spreading the gagging smalling excrement and compacting all that wet soil.
Here we are staying off our fields and nurturing things along at it’s own pace. It’s our way to care for the land so we can keep farming on.
It’s not an easy life no matter the size of the farm but for some the soil is more than holding up the corn plant, to us it’s life giving and making a living.
Too many people have forgotten that 4 years ago they were begging their local farmers to raise more food for them, saying things like they didn’t trust the food supply and wanted more local farms. Sadly too many of those people are forgettful, maybe they need more Vit D and a better quality protein than what they have gone back to. My wish is for more people to value wthat they said to us that they valued 4 years ago. But it gets harder and harder to keep this small farm afloat when those customers who adored us 4 years ago have misplaced their trust and gone back to the ways of 4 years ago. Lots of small farms are also strugglling and holding it together but for how long?
A recent FB post on a local community group showed 2 pictures, one a busy farmers markets and the other a McD’s. The caption want something like we need more of this (the farmers market) and less of these (the McD’s). Farmers markets are strugging to find enough farmers to attend the markets and sell theiir products. They find crafters and similar wares but not enough farmers. Farmers are hesitant to attend a new market knowing that foot traffic much less active buyers will be slim. It’s hard to do all the work of growing the food, harvesting, packing and hauling iit all to a market to only sit there and sell a few bucks worth then come home and have nowhere for that produce to go except the compost pile or the piggies or chickens. Sure they could donate it but then how do the make a living?
My wish is for more people to value where their food comes from, at this point for us, value your protein source.. Where did. you go? It doesn’t matter much for you nowdays?
It hurts to see pepple buying meat at a store and i KNOW it was not even raised in this country. Do you know that? You should and it should matter. If ou enjoy the view out this way or any where when you can get on a “country road”, that view comes to you mostly from hard working farmers feeding people. Those farmers are getting rarer and rarer.
For Earthday how about you make some decisions that really matter and have a lasting impact. Sure go pickup garbage, drive an electric car, plant a tree then go home and feel better. But one way. you can make the biggest impact right at home is to change where your food comes from- buy ti locally. Invest in your local farmers. It matters, it makes a difference and you’ll have really good meat to eat.