Chapter 12 An Eye Opening Experience

1-24-2018  Chapter 12  An Eye Opening Experience

Good Evening Everybody, how are ya?  I get a lot of windshield time during the day and its no shock, especially since I have said it numerous times, that I listen to podcasts all the time.  I don't even listen to the radio anymore.  No music, no sports talk, just podcasts.  I knew when I was getting involved in the market garden spectrum of agriculture I was going to have to listen to people that I wouldn't normally give the time of day.  Not that they are necessarily bad people , they just don't align with my way of thinking.  Which is ok, we don't have to agree politically, socially or any other way for me to learn from them and hopefully at some point them learning from me. But holy hell people, even I was shocked at what I found.

I knew going in that a lot of people that are in this world are ultra left, Bernie supporting, liberal and for a lack of a better word, hippy type people.  No worries, I can learn from hippy type people.  If they knew how to grow a better tomato, or a better more productive squash seed to plant or if they had a marketing plan that was proven they were willing to share I would listen and learn.  In fact, I thought once I got started I could educate these people on issues like GMO's, corporate farms and the like.  It seems, to be a member of this group you must have a hatred for GMO's.  Now you don't have to understand GMO's you just have to hate them.  You must hate Roundup.  You must believe that crops you buy in grocery stores are covered in Roundup.  Really?  Do people not understand how Roundup is used?  You, in utter nonsense, must believe that natural food kills cancer, apple cider vinegar fixes everything and by raising animals in a pasture type system or anything that doesn't resemble a confinement operation makes you a saint among sinners.  Holy Hell People!!   To fall into this group of people you must rail against companies but use techniques and break down spreadsheets to the fractions of a penny, ummmm, just like these corporations do.  

I started looking into this kind of agriculture a while back for many reasons.  Land prices are so high right now, you can't make your numbers work and you can't ever plan to pay the loan back, in a suitable time anyway.   If you study vegetable production, especially on a high density/high intensity scale it's amazing how many pounds of produce you can raise. As well, it's an operation that can thrive on an acre here or an acre there, using land that is really nothing more then wasted but can produce cash flow that helps the entire farm out.   I used to hate gardening.  I would rather have dug ditches then helped out in the gardens when I was young.  I really didn't start enjoying gardening till I was in the sales world.  High stress, high reward type of selling was starting to take a toll on me. But I could leave my cell phone in the house and get away from the crap that my job was becoming.  It was soothing and it was a great medicinal treatment for my ever increasing blood pressure.   Freshly turned soil, or big plump tomatoes on the vine, or a sweet smelling watermelon ripening on the vine had healing properties.  I don't mean things in a garden can cure cancer, heal a broken bone or treat illnesses that only the good Lord and modern medicine can take care of.  But there is a ton of stress relieving properties that seem to show up in a lush, green, productive garden or fields.  It's magical and it's real.  

We will be growing over 30 different types of vegetables in our gardens this year.  Everything from asparagus to watermelons and everything in between.  If I could bottle up the essence and magic that occurs when you stick your hands in the dirt, when you harvest fresh green beans and see the bounty of your harvest on your table or in your pantry, I could sell that  and be rich many times over.  It doesn't matter if you are a farmer or rancher, if you are a sanitation worker, teacher or CEO, if you are happy, you are 90% there.  I chose to be happy. So when I hear podcasts or people talking and they are just spewing information that just isn't correct, I breathe deep, remember the one thing I learned from listening to them and drive on down the road, because in the end I know what I'm doing and the reasons for doing it. 

Around the farm..........Besides feeding and planning the garden spots we had two goats freshen today.  It won't be long before spring babies will be everywhere. If you like what you have read, please like and share with your family and friends.  You can follow me on Facebook, or you can follow me on Twitter @OKREDNECKFARMER.  If you want to send me an email you can do so at bodarkspringsfarm@gmail.com.  Have a great rest of the day and a better tomorrow!!