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I don’t know about you, but it always seems like my Hereford pigs are smiling for the camera!
One of the great things about the community that is springing up around The Beginning Farmer Show is that I often receive encouraging e-mails and messages, questions, comments, and links to helpful resources. One of the bad things about me is that when my computer died I neglected to add an important e-mail address to my phone’s mail application and because of that I’ve missed a bunch of great e-mails! There are some great topics though and I want to cover as many as possible. Here is a sampling of the topics that I will be attempting to share some thoughts on …
- Dealing with processors can be a challenge. There are often things we as producers worry about because we have spent a lot of time and care getting our livestock to that point only to drop them off and drive away (in some cases).
- I’m getting pretty passionate about completing my business plan and I’m thankful for all the encouragement and tips that have been coming in.
- In the future (maybe this year … maybe next year) we’ll be spreading compost on our pastures in order to fully utilize our deep bedding and to help improve our pastures. When is the best time to do that and what about spreading compost in addition to seeding pastures?
- Even though it would be great if all our interactions with other farmers would be perfect and idyllic our our beautiful farm dreams the reality is that they are people and sometimes it goes better than others. Recently a listener related a story along these lines to me that gave me a lot to think about.
All of those questions together though have lead me to some conclusions about The Beginning Farmer Show, my farming journey, and some things that I would love to see moving forward. I’ll give a bit of a preview today, but really what I want to say is that I’ve been extremely blessed to have the help that I’ve had and I want to share that help as much as possible! Like I said … there will be more details coming.
We covered a lot of ground on today’s episode! Do you have any tips on working with butchers, building a great business plan, spreading compost and seeding, or even connecting with experienced farmers?
As always, I want to thank you so much for listening and supporting the show with your encouragement and reviews on iTunes! I am continually working to produce a better show, and I’m thankful for all of the listeners sticking with me as I learn.
If you do enjoy the show, don’t forget that you can subscribe on iTunes and leave a five star rating and review (by clicking the link). If you are an Android phone user you can also subscribe on the free Stitcher App. It is so very encouraging to know that people are listening and enjoying the show!
I would love to hear your questions, show ideas, or comments about the show. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! As always you can follow along with “The Beginning Farmer” and Crooked Gap Farm by checking out these links …
I think that one of the MOST important topics the Ethan discusses is how he struggles trying to balance his family, their farm, his other farm job, hit town job, etc. I think that it is important for Ethan to realize that every honest, Christian husband and father with children at home that I have ever talked with also struggles with this balance. This is because these men truly love their family and always desire to do their absolute best as a provider, role model, care taker of the planet, etc. This is not a bad thing, but we have to work hard to major on the majors and at least temporarily let some of the minors go. I hope that the business model for Crooked Gap farm will help Ethan know what to focus on and help his family feel a little more in balance.
Paul … Thank you so much for the encouragement! I really do think working through the business plan will help me push aside my “dreams” and look at what is best for the family and the farm business and how those things can all work together.
I’ll second what Paul wrote. This is a huge issue in my life also. I know I always struggle with this balance. It was some relief to know that Ethan is human, as I listened to these podcasts in the past I had the tendency to think, “this guy is incredible, how does he do it all?” My prayers will be with you man. Time with your kids is short and passing. Your wife, who is obviously an amazing person, is more important than your dreams. I’m guessing hogs and Dexters will be around long after we’re all gone. Not saying to let the hogs or anything else go, just keep the main thing the main thing. Just my two cents. Easier said than done – I know from experience. I have to remind myself of these things often. Sorry to repeat what Paul already wrote, but he is right on.
Peanutfarmer … thanks so much for the encouragement! And yes … I am very much human and will be a life long “beginning farmer” no matter what the rest of life holds 😉