Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Pego Rice <firekeeper38@yahoo.com>]

I think that is really the point.  All of my family
had farms 2 generations ago, except one of my
granddaddy's who was a real live constable, newsman
and trolley man (handy guy) The farms "had" to get
bigger and bigger, the machines had to get bigger and
bigger and so did the loans.   My Uncle was the last
farmer in my family (well, until my niece married) but
his operation got pretty big, he eventually scaled
down his milch cows, and orchard to "hobby" status to
focus all his attention of a very large farm and it
was a 24-7 job, even at home relaxing he had to keep
the trade radio station on.  My cousins would have
nothing to do with all that huge management mess and
so Uncle Hal sold the farm off to fund his very brief
retirement.  (He only lived about 5 more years, he had
been running pretty hard all his life and giving all
that pace up to be a retiree didn't work out for him) 
Now my cousin does as much as he can of all the things
he misses about the farm, but I don't think he would
chose to farm the way his dad did even yet.  Most
people are not much interested in taking on major farm
management and the exhaustive life, lifestyle really
that that kind of farm entails.  I want a sustainable
life, I wish I had a portion of Hal's land but I
wouldn't touch his lifestyle with a stick.

Yours, Pego

Yours




 <<  The children of farmers do not want to farm and
that should surprise no one.  All they hear is
negative.  [Farmers must get off the government
welfare and support themselves.  This will restore
their self-esteem, dignity and pride.]
   
But that is not the true picture.  There are many
people entering farming - minifarming.  You do not
read this in the farm magazines.  Most internships,
apprentiships, etc pretty much fill up every year. 
More and more minifarmers are suppling the local
market.>>

<<I'm the daughter of a farmer.  I always wanted to
farm, but it's only been in the last 5 years that both
of my brothers realized that they feel that way too. 
As the children of farmers hit their mid-thirties I
think they begin to realize what it is that they had.
>>

<<Some of those farms are lucky, and they have several
FEET of dark topsoil which continues to produce,
almost regardless of how it is abused.>> 


 
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