What I've Learned....

Well, here we are entering into our first year as a farmer (we became an LLC in December), not just a homesteader. There is a distinct difference between the two. In short- a homesteader is someone who lives off their land and tries to live as self-sustainable as they can. A farmer is a homesteader who also sells what they produce. Here are a few lessons I have learned along the way raw and uncut...

Number 1- It is the 4th biggest investment of your life, only behind God, your marriage and your children. It will literally suck the life out of your soul and the last dollar out of your bank account. Be prepared to live off of hope, faith and beans. For people with the dream of up and quitting your day job, selling your house, moving to land and starting a farm- go to a farm and ask a farmer their opinion of your plans, I can tell you politely now that any one of us will tell you, "You need to see someone about your mental health." Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly blessed with a husband who works a good job, and we are financially sound, but I could never imagine what it would be like if he didn't bring in an additional income. 

Number 2- You will become political. I never care about the news before now. NEVER. Whatever was happening, was happening and I didn't give the slightest flip in the world about what it was. Oh, but when you're a farmer, you will learn that every single thing on your farm is dictated by people who will make an incredible amount of money and don't give a rat's ass about you.
Example: Ukraine is one of the world's major grain producers. The country mainly grows and exports wheat, corn and barley. According to the European Commission, Ukraine accounts for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn market, and 13% of the barley market. With more than 50% of world trade, it is also the main player on the sunflower oil market.
Well, if there is a war there- how exactly does it affect me? Feed. While your cost of eggs in the store are now a buck again, my feed prices continue to rise because we cannot import or grow the amount of grain needed to sustain our country. So yes, you will become political, most likely republican, and you will need to know what is going on in the world. 

Number 3- 8:00pm. Yup, that is the time you will be ready to crawl into bed and hibernate after killing yourself all day cleaning, building fences, chasing ducks, dealing with a broody hen, cleaning coops, pulling weeds, canning something and vetting birds. Will you? Nope. You will finish up doing things inside; answering emails, trying to post a blog or a social media post, tidying up your kitchen or finally getting a load of laundry in. By 10 you're spent and will crawl into bed to only be startled awake at 11 by a random turkey that decides to fall off your tin roof. Your husband will come out of the house locked, loaded and ready to be back in the sandbox. All while you're looking out the window hollering, "It's a turkey- Don't shoot!" You will finally crawl back into bed to be awaken at 4:00am to start the day all over again. You will be tired. Exhausted. Drained. Mentally spent. But somehow, you will feel fulfilled and happy. But mostly you will feel tired. 

Number 4- Your desk or workstation will never be clean. Just accept it now. You will never have a clean work space. You will clean it, multiple times a week but there will always be a stack of receipts, mail, paperwork or even DNA testing results that all need to be delt with but this task falls all the way to the bottom of the list. The very bottom of the list. At this point, I'll clean my desk right before it's my time. 

These are just my top 4. There are so many more things I have learned. Maybe I'll do a part 2. But for now, take notes and pray for me. I love y'all!