Farmville is an application on Facebook that has swept the country since its release in June of 2009. It allows users to manage a farm engaging in virtual activities such as planting, harvesting, fertilizing and managing livestock. It's all over the place. Click this, do that and voila. Your farmin'.Well I have a bone to pick this week people. Farmville nothing- this is a lot of work. And I'll be the first to acknowledge that I too, often live in a dreamworld and somehow take on more than I can handle (although you ever notice how you swear you're at your last straw and that's it, game over - but somehow the next day still comes and everything continues on just the same?), but this weekend was my max. I realized this whole farming thing ain't so easy; and it certainly isn't a couple mouse clicks.
First of all, its been raining for 40 days straight; just ask Noah, he floated by the other day. And when you still have to get your last load of hay in for the winter, clean out the chicken coop, insulate it, finish a couple barn roof projects and yet all you can find time for is to dig yet another temporary trough in the hillside to usher the water runoff down in the right direction (as in NOT into the chicken coop front door thank you very much) it makes for long stressful weeks.
Today there was finally a break in the rain; out came the tractor to catch the four loads of soiled bedding from the coop. It's also time to empty all the water containers and feeders and to clean them with soap and water for disinfecting purposes. Well of course as I'm carrying these from coop to grass to get them out of the way, the chickens somehow translate this to mean fresh new food in the feeders, so I ended up battling them to gain access to the feeders. Meanwhile the sheep think something exciting is going on 'cause the chickens are all stirred up; so they start bah-ing at me wanting whatever it is the chickens are getting. It's quite a scene, trust me this place is more funny farm then money farm any day.
The other post I mentioned how objects can be so "farm" and here is another example. The soiled chicken bedding is full of straw and manure, its not something you bag up and bury in the backyard to hide (umm what do we call those... oh yeah landfills). Chicken manure is high in Nitrogen and is considered to be "hot". This means its not a good idea to put it right on your garden vegetables because they will burn up due to the high levels of Nitrogen. However, at the end of the season, and as long as I carefully mix the manure piles throughout the bedding to avoid saturated piles, I can use it directly on the raspberries and grapes to mulch, fertilize, and help insulate them for the winter. In addition to the chicken bedding, you can see little piles of wool along the row. These piles of wool were second cuttings, manure tagged wool, and other parts of the sheep fleece that were no good for products, but excellent for mulch. Its one more aspect of the sustainable farming being performed here at Windy Knob. Meanwhile, don't forget about our high quality fleeces for sale. These are updated on our website, visit us at www.windyknobfarms.com to learn about the fleeces and see updated photos of each sheep.
I was going to come up with some acronym or play off of swine flu seeing as its all over the news these days. All I could come up with was "time flu." First and foremost I don't want to joke about a serious issue such as swine flu, especially given the levels of intensity I have seen in the area and how hard our schools were hit over the past week; but I also found myself getting more introspective when I thought about how time is flying.
This is the last week of October ladies and gentlemen. Its another reminder that - hey- guess what- it isn't July anymore. There is something about September and October that seems difficult for me. Maybe it's the adjustment period of getting back into the swing of teaching. Or perhaps its getting to know the new batch of students; or being back to five days a week and going at it a solid two months before your first break from kids for a professional development day. None the less people, October is almost over. The sheep have been bred (thanks boys, you're through- we'll call you next October) the chickens are fattening up on corn for the winter, and soon enough our written dates will start with an "11." To me this is a big step that ushers in snow, hunting, turkey and holidays. This week I'm going to take it in - even the weekdays. The weekend will be here soon enough I found as I have longed for them every single work day. After this week another month is ripped off our desk calendars and so will begin the flood of holiday music and ads. So take it in people, deep breath, exhale.
You ready?
No comments:
Post a Comment