Lessons on the Farm

"Cat, I'll let you in on a little secret. Doing something you have a passion for doesn't make the work part any easier. It just makes you less likely to quit."-The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

"My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God's presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that let's you see your place in the big picture. And that is what I had with my first compost heap."-Bette Midler

What I have learned on the farm so far:

1. You must be willing to touch shit. Cow shit, pig shit, chicken shit, sheep shit...all kinds of shit. If you are afraid of getting shit on yourself, you will not make it on the farm. At the end of most days I am covered in shit and smell like shit. My clothes smell like shit. My car smells like shit. My hair smells like shit. You must like the smell of shit.

2. Shit is heavy. Especially when wet.

3. You will fall down. Literally. Probably while carrying shit. If you're lucky it won't fall on your face. I've been lucky. Last week Jenn, the two apprentices from last year that were visiting, and I cleaned out a year's worth of shit and hay from one of the sheep pens. The shit and hay was matted down and caked together. We spent about 6-8 hours over 2 days pitchforking it out. When a wheelbarrow was full to the brim with shit and hay we had to lug it out to the manure pile. The first day, it rained. The wheelbarrow slipped and slid down the ramp that first time I brought it out. I fell 3 times and didn't realize until later that I had ripped my pants all the way down the back. Since then I have fallen many more times while wheeling the wheelbarrow down to the manure pile. Some during a rain storm and some on a sun-shining day. But my muscles are growing....which brings me to my next point.

4. You will realize that you have more strength, energy, endurance, confidence, and capabilities then you ever thought possible. Farm work is hard. The days are long. You never get everything done that you plan to do in a day. But you do a lot. And if you're like me that is a significant change from your normal life. By lunchtime I am tired. By 3:30 I am exhausted. And when it comes time to do chores at 5, I would rather do anything in the world than throw down bales of hay, gather grain, and fill up buckets of water to feed the animals. Of course there is no choice but to do it, so I do it. And it gets done. And I survive. And the sense of accomplishment is pretty darn sweet.

5. Animals are smarter than we (or at least I) think (thought) they are (were). I mentioned the bottle-feed lambs and Squirt specifically in my last blog. I think I mentioned that he recognizes his name. When you come to feed him and call out his name he will come to you. When you feed him he wags his tail. Two days ago the sheep were in a huge pen outside, about 500 ft from the farmhouse. In the morning when Jenn woke up and walked outside Squirt was standing at the door to the house. That means that Squirt found a way to escape from the pen, figured out how to get to the farmhouse (he had been taken there only once before-weeks ago) and that that is where he could find the people that could feed him. The next day, the sheep were in a pen inside. When Anna, the new apprentice and I, went to go clean the chick brooder, I could hear a lamb screaming but couldn't see it at first. I went into panic mode thinking there was a lamb in the chick brooder. When I pulled back the cover on the chick brooder, there was Squirt wedged between the chick brooder and the wall. Apparently he was hungry and was trying to find a way to get out to come find us to feed him. Clearly Squirt's brain is larger than the size of a pea and there is something significant going on in there. I don't think that Squirt is smarter than most sheep. I think he just has a tougher life than most sheep on Fat Rooster Farm. He is the only sheep so far this season whose mother completely rejected him, therefore his only source of food has been humans. So, while most baby lambs have had their source of food (their mothers) close to them from birth, Squirt has had to struggle to figure out how to eat when he is hungry and there is nobody around to feed him. He is constantly in survival mode and that forces him to do things that sheep don't normally do, but are probably capable of doing (i.e. recognizing their name, finding their food source, even if it isn't close by, readily available, or obvious as to what it is). Pretty, pretty cool!

6. Six is compost. You'll have to stay tuned for that one because I am falling asleep...which brings me to rule number seven.

7. Sleep is precious. You will never get enough of it.