Up until lately, I've done reasonably well following a time budget that I created got myself. Each week, actually each day, I allot a certain amount of time to devote to various projects : farm work, new projects, household, personal, etc. A strict budget never works for me, but I've managed to generally follow my own guidelines and keep my head above water. But since I've started trying to work on the project of having this farm earn a profit, the time budgeting turned into a house of cards which the Hawaiian breezes keep blowing into a pieces. Aaaahhh, the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
So I'm making changes. Some days saving time becomes far more important to me than staying self reliant. This past week I started feeding haycubes to the rabbits instead of taking the time to hand gather all their food. They're still getting greens, fruits, and veggies, but instead of gathering twice a day I'm feeding fresh food only in the mornings and supplementing it with a handful of cubes. That saves a chunk of time. Same idea for the chickens and pig.......cooked food for their major feeding in the morning and commercial feed snack for the evening feeding. Perhaps in the future I will once again eliminate the commercial feed aspect, but for now I see that I need to use it in order to develop a farm income profit.
That saved time I'm devoting to working on my new nursery and returning to blogging. I'm sure you'll appreciate the latter.
One more change I'm making......herbicide. Because of the weather, the grass situation has gone hog wild here. Grass is really difficult for me to control by non-chemical herbicidal methods. I have a choice......spend days hand chopping and hand topping grasses in those difficult places, or hitting it once with a commercial herbicide. My time crunch says it's time to buy a bottle of roundup. So yesterday I sprayed for three hours and gained days and days of free time to devote elsewhere. I have no regrets.
"S" emailed me.....
ReplyDeleteOooo, are you in for a ---- storm for that one! The reality is farming is a low-profit, body-destroying, life-consuming activity. There are no pink unicorns picking flowers in a meadow, just a mad grind to keep everything fed and alive until it's projected, and bankable demise date. People I knew as a child who had spent their entire lives running farms were burnt- out physical wrecks by 55 and gratefully in their graves not too long after....
Because you're doing it all on your own without cheap farm labor. I guess I'll get a ---- storm for that. My hubster and I decided long ago that any mechanical or chemical assistance (within reason) was - and is - just fine and dandy. We're doing it without CFL. You'll get no ---- storm from me. The ones slinging the storm are probably comfy on the couch and have never been in the trenches. Literally. Maybe this will be your entrée into controversial posts. Hope not.
ReplyDeleteTable salt dissolved in water will do the same thing roundup does without the glyphosate and will be much cheaper. It is hard doing it all alone.
ReplyDeleteSu Ba, remember that Experience is a very harsh teacher - and no man is an island. Give no heed to those who would critique your choices. One of the most accomplished landscape creators in Maui freely used RoundUp where it made sense, not indiscriminately, and even today, his masterworks remain flourishing and healthy.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you have reached a plateau of success, which might call for a restorative vacation. Indulge in what works for you, be it just meeting friends, or taking a series of spa treatments, or putting up a "Gone Fishin'" post for all to read, while you recharge your energies and renew your spirit. And enjoy the silent round of applause from all of us - you earned it!