Make of this what you will...

[the maple epee]

I'm not really sure why I'm posting this as a thread. It's a post I made in the 516,649 thread, and I suppose I just liked the way it turned out.
Maybe it's because I've been thinking lately about what I do, and why I like it, and it was kind of nice to put it out on paper (Of a sort). Maybe I'm just tired enough to make pointless threads. Anyway, I'm probably going to regret this in the morning.
I donno...

Farming is the hardest job you'll likely ever do. You work and you work and you work. 14 hours a day (more, during harvest season), 7 days a week. I you're lucky, you get a few days of vacation each year. You have to be a jack of all trades. A deisel mechanic, an electrician, a plumber, a vet, a surgeon, a midwife, a truck driver and a laborer. You make next to no money. Your entire years income can disappear with one season of bad weather. You have to milk the cows twice a day every day. No matter what. No matter if you're sick, or if it's your birthday, or if it's a holiday, or if your house burns down, or if you become a father or mother, or if a family member dies. I've seen all of these scenarios. You get taken advantage of regularly by those in positions of power, be they bankers, developers or politicians. If your heifers get loose onto the road at 3 AM during a thunderstorm, you have to go get them in. It's a career where you have to work your ass of constantly just to keep your head above water, and the part you play in society is often taken for granted.

You can also learn more than you can anywhere else, be it school or college. You can see and touch and taste the products of your labor. You learn to adapt to the seasons, and be in touch with the land. You can be responsible for the well being of many people. The farm community is the strongest and most supportive of any group of people I've ever seen. You're surrounded by people who are willing to give you the shirt off of their back to see you through a tough time. You can support yourself and your family off the land, if you know how to do it right. You've got a tremendous sense of self worth, and have the knowledge of how to work with your hands in order
to preserve your little piece of the world.

That was a little long winded.
In a nutshell, it's hard as a sonova*****, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

[swordwench]

When do you have time to fence?

Seriously, you're right - this has to be the hardest job out there, but one that feels so rewarding at the end of the day. I applaud your willingness to continue doing it.

Do you have chickens? I really need to know.

[the maple epee]

Yeah, we have about 17 layers all year round. We have 50 meat birds in the summer. We have turkeys every other year, alternating with pigs, and we have ducks every once and awhile too.

[Timo]

Do the cows blow up if you miss a milking?

But it really sounds like a job you can get alot of satisfaction from!

[Fencergrl]

Originally Posted by Timo

Do the cows blow up if you miss a milking?

No, but if you let the cows run, you end up with milkshakes! Personally I always like to let the brown cows run, because I like chocolate milkshakes.

[lefty_monster]

Maple gets a huge pat on the back. I know that I would never survive as a farmer. Way to go, Maple!

[Nicksmom]

One of the residents I work with wants me to find him a goat and a chicken to "sacrafice in the brush". I told him...."you live in an apartment in the city, where do you think you are going to find brush, not to mention where am I to find a live goat and chicken." I know now......can I get one of your chickens, and so you have goats?

[jBirch]

I live out in the sticks here in Alberta and there's no way anyone would ever catch me farming. It's too much work, the pay sucks, everyone assumes that you're dumb as a pail of rocks, and you're always too cold or too hot or too wet or too dry.

Nah, for me it's the life of a software developer: nice climate controlled office with a door, good pay, an ability to tell doctors, lawyers, politicians and engineers where to shove it, interesting problems and a reputation for curmudgeonry.

[the maple epee]

Originally Posted by Timo

Do the cows blow up if you miss a milking?

I wouldn't say blow up, exactly, it's more of a pop...

No, but seriously, they will get a pretty nasty case of sub-c mastitis if you just stop milking 'em.

[I_luv_saber]

Farming is damned hard work, rewrding as it is. I've considered going into Farming Technologies here (a big deal here in California, and interesting as hell). And yeah, farming communities get stepped on far too often. Fresno is a city of half a million people, and yet we are all just a bunch of hicks to many because we have a large farming industry. It pisses me off sometimes... maybe they forget where all that food they snack on comes from! Grrrr....grumblegrumle...

[TheNakedSword]

Maple...I think you need to call Mike Rowe...fencing and farming. Sounds like a dirty job to me.