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  • From: "Jill Bussiere" <jdt AT itol.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [Market-farming] status quo
  • Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 18:12:32 -0500

Liz,
Going to neighbors for help has drawbacks too - especially
when they are
already working hard and trying to harvest/mow/plow/plant at the right
times....We've done that. Even hiring in the local combine system had
drawbacks - we were smallest, and newest, and not making a living from
farming, and so last on the list to be combined, when we were growing
grains - and since we were growing organically, cutting before the weeds had
a chance to grow high was important, and was not accomplished.
I hear you about the equipment. I so envy my friends that grew up on
farms, and know how to fix machinery like they know how to grow. It is
indeed an integral part of being viable. Whenever our baler or our tractor
break, we have to pay lots of money, and wait, compromising whatever we are
working on, until it is fixed.

Glad you are staying on!

Jill,WI




-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Liz Pike
Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 4:21 PM
To: Market Farming
Subject: [Market-farming] status quo


Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the volunteers for the moderator's job. I've decided to stay
on. Not because I have fun jerking your chain, but because I've been at a
crossroads and haven't known which way to go...up, down, left, right, north,
south, east, west.

For three years y'all suffered through my tales of starts & stops.
Everything under the sun has conspired to keep me from plowing & planting.

I used to farm one way...very little machinery, no tilling after initial
ground-breaking, etc. I had great fertile permanent beds. I purposely
worked towards no machinery farming so I wouldn't have to rely on others to
make repairs I didn't know how to do or couldn't afford. Well, I needed
machinery on this place. Everything was in pasture/weeds, hard pack clay
and had never had any row cropping, not even a garden. So instead of doing
the wise thing...and actually going to my neighbors and asking for help, I,
being the ever self-sufficient stereo-typical,
I-can-and-will-do-it-myself-if-it-kills-me farmer, decided to do it myself.

So I bought machinery I could use & run. BUT! I neglected the maintenance
part...I couldn't work on this stuff. I know as well as the next farmer
that we have to wear many hats, but I didn't stop to think about what I was
buying in terms of what I could work on. Stuff breaks. Stuff needs fixing,
and unless you can do it yourself, you have to rely on others who may not
feel the same time pressure or who may not really have the time or
willingness to be out after midnight working so you can be back at it at
6am. (Those of you who don't have the expertise, if you really want to
farm, include mechanical, welding & small engine repair classes on your to
do list so you won't have to wait for help. You'll be so glad you did!)

In all honesty, the heart and soul for me has gone out of farming...for
myself. But the passion to help others do it is still as strong as ever.
In the past three days, out of the blue, I've had 6 phone calls from farms,
beginning farmers, or very new market gardeners wanting & needing advice and
things I could provide and for which they were willing to pay. I couldn't
have helped them if I was still farming. Imagine that. Maybe this is what
I'm meant to do and I just wasn't listening.

So for those who asked, the website is still up, and the list will run as
is.


Liz Pike
Laughingbrook Farm
Westfield NC
http://www.marketfarming.com http://www.laughingbrookfarm.com


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