In a perfect world things would go differently than the do in reality … When I started this blog (a long time ago it seems) I was just beginning the research phase of this whole farm adventure. I was starting to pick up books and talk to people, but at that point the farm was just a dream and the land to have that dream on wasn’t even on the radar. In the perfect world I would have gathered as much of that knowledge as I could and then when there was a place to farm I would have just jumped in with all of me and thrown myself at the farm until it worked! The reality of it is that I’ve got about one foot (mostly just a toe hold) on the farm right now.
Today is a case in point. Just last week (at least I think that’s when it was) I blogged about the Greg Judy event happening in the northeast part of the state. Today was the day that it was going down and regardless of the distance and the fact that I had youth group in the evening I was going to be there … I mean how many chances will I have to listen to Mr. Judy and I really thought attending would benefit the farm and my management of it. But, the workshop is now over and I was never there. That is the reality of the farm right now.
That picture up there on the left … that’s what my pasture looks like right now. As I mentioned the other day, warm season grasses are just that … warm season. And, they haven’t decided to take off so much yet. Also, the years in CRP and the growth of the scrub brush have left things pretty bare in spots. In the perfect world this seeding would have taken place the first spring I was on the farm … in reality it happened on the third spring, but at least it happened!
So what do you do when the reality does not match up with the perfect world on the farm? I think you make sure your priorities are in order and you just keep going. As much as I would like this to be a sprint the reality is that it is like an ultra-run (that is something crazy people do … think 100 miles).
Count me as one of those fans cheering for you on that Ultra-Run! I think I can speak for at least 380 others too 😉
Are you sure that you are actually taking as long to reach where you want to be at this point?
Didn’t you drag a springtooth and harrow all over your pasture to smooth out the anthills? Don’t lose sight of the fact that it is going to take awhile for the grass to recover from the anthills, ants, and the spring-toothing.
Plus, without the springtoothing and the resulting bare patches of dirt, it would have been more difficult to get your cool season grasses established.