Monday, Farming; Tuesday, Family

OK, I'm trying to catch up!

Monday

Our place is a wreck. After the winter and then several periods of hard rain and ice, the yard is covered with downed sticks and debris. At least one tree is down on the fence and several run-off ruts have been created that will have to be filled in. But it is still too wet to do any of that right now. We have a big pine tree down near the driveway that has been there since Christmas, but it has been too wet or slippery to get the tractor in there to pull it out.

I'm thinking about gardening. I like the theory of gardening, but the actual effort of it leaves me a little less excited. I have been thinking about whether to expand the size due to rising food prices. I am a bit of a survivalist at heart, but I have trouble predicting whether to prepare for something that will not happen and that will affect my quality of life in the meantime, or to go all out.

After selling off all our stock, I am considering brokering a little hay for next year. Because we know a lot of people and because I have the time to follow up on leads, we usually can find hay at a good price. I could store a barn full and then double or triple my money in the spring and still be offering buyers a substantial savings over what others are charging. Hmmm, something new to ponder. At the very least, I could rent out our space to store hay for someone else who doesn't have enough space to store enough at their location....hmmmm....



Tuesday

Ah, family day. Speaking of the survival thing, a frequent question on some sites I read is whether you, who prepare for coming hard times, would let your relatives come and live with you if times really did get bad. That is a tough question. I firmly believe in the Bible verse that says If a man will not work, neither shall he eat. On the other hand, I know I couldn't turn down family--people I grew up with, the cousins I played with. Could you really let them perish when you had food? On the other, other hand, I can't afford or store enough to feed everyone.

I guess my final response would have to be Bring all the food you can and be prepared to forage in the woods to help supplement our supply enough to feed everyone. And bring work clothes because you will have to work in the garden and field to grow enough to eat next year. I couldn't turn away loved ones, but I wouldn't maintain freeloaders. Does such hard line thinking make me a bad person? I mean, Granny wouldn't be expected to pull a plow, but she would be expected to look after the little ones while their parents were out working and to snap beans or prepare fruit for canning. Everyone would have to do what they could.

I expect this will make me very unpopular with my relatives who always joke about, If the economy collapses, I'm coming to Lori's! Ha. Ha. I'm sure they will take the news that they better be prepared to work as a reason to seek out a more soft-hearted relative.

Oh well, gotta go, S. has an orthodontist appt and we need to leave.

Lori