Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] What nobody told me about small farming: I can’t make a living

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: herb farmer <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] What nobody told me about small farming: I can’t make a living
  • Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 15:54:59 -0700


Too true I'm afraid. BTW anyone can post or jump into conversations here. It's a big list with 530 members :-)


On 2/11/2015 3:14 PM, John D'hondt wrote:
I would not be surprised if there were a lot more people with this philosophy Paul because I think it is a logical conclusion that forces itself upon anyone who thinks about life. I'm sure there are many variants for the environment is not equally important for every one. Some give themselves to causes like abused children and the homeless and that is good too.
It would definitely be a better world if this philosophy were taught in schools but then of course the economy would collapse since all of a sudden people would begin to doubt that a life devoted to just consumption is all fulfilling.

My sympathy for the woman was a bit diluted because I saw so many triers fail already here. At one time I was thinking of starting a school for home steaders -small organic farmers. I decided against it because some or even most people have their own agenda that leads them straight into failure even when you try to give them good advice. If it is the dearest wish of a new farmer to be able to drive around with a big expensive machine then they are not going to listen when I go back to basics of having a dry place to sleep (not a given in Ireland) and to be able to feed a family.
I've seen new arrivals from Holland buy Arran sweaters for the whole family (expensive) and then go to the bank to take out a loan to buy a tractor. With not a thought that seed and a simple hand tool was all that was needed for a start. These people lasted almost two years and only that long because they got a lot of help from people like me who have a problem with seeing children go hungry.

Selling produce is getting ever worse here. Every week there are half a dozen vegetables and fruits in the super markets at give away prices. 19 euro cent for a big ripe pineapple for instance. I can't imagine that pays even for the transport by plane from South America. 3 euro cents for a kilo of Irish carrots. It is not possible that a grower breaks even at that.
John

On 11/02/15 02:15, herb farmer wrote:

I'm seriously surprised anyone would express the exact philosophy I keep - that the only meaning in life is just what we give it. And something in growing feeds the inner being in ways nothing else can duplicate.

Did u start feeling sympathy for the woman in that? She fell into the Big Ag trap, using their equipment, competing head to head with same Big Ag grocery customers, trying to keep up an entire produce section by themselves, and so on. I'm no expert or youngster, but I've made bigger profits than her on less than1% of the land she works. Nice that she did go organic, but that doesn't guarantee any revenue over costs. Now where u can't survive selling produce etc. you could write the book on growing to live.

On 2/10/2015 6:07 PM, John D'hondt wrote:
Exactly my own experience except that we always worked 7 days a week and often much longer than 12 hours a day.
However, we owned our land and made a rock into a fertile landscape. And we really would have been doing the same thing if we had known we had only a few more months to live.
The big question in life is why we are here at all. I think that life has no meaning unless we give it meaning by having a goal that is more important than our little selves. Making even one single acre fertile so that instead of that acre feeding just a few wild birds you can see numbers and species diversity exploding might not be such a pointless ideal.
I farmed organically for 30 years and never made a living from it. But did we eat well! And did we enjoy the things we did! And because of that we disease was extremely rare and we never really needed medical attention. We always grew our own medicine.
Rich people spend big money riding a horse. We could train a horse and be with it almost all the time so that that horse became a best friend that would do anything for you. Priceless!

The deck is so stacked against small farmers that it is idiotic to expect to make a living from it but it sure is the way of life.
John

On 10/02/15 22:19, herb farmer wrote:
What nobody told me about small farming: I can’t make a living
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/10/what_nobody_told_me_about_small_farming_i_cant_make_a_living/?source=newsletter
_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page